‘I’ve got to coach this better’—One of the Miami Dolphins’ top assistants refuses to pass the buck for early struggles
The Miami Dolphins have seen some growth. But in one phase in particular, not nearly enough.
The Miami Dolphins are set to leap back into action this weekend against the New York Jets.
Miami, after a week of self-assessment and recovery, is looking to kick things into another gear against a familiar opponent. And, if they’re successful, a breakthrough in the win column may await. Against the Jets (and everyone else the rest of the way), the Dolphins are going to need better production from their passing game. And offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik acknowledged as much on Thursday. He also, interesting enough, seized the responsibility for the fix.
Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik diagnoses the pass game struggles
“Generally I don’t think anybody really thinks the pass game is where we want it to be. And I think it all starts with…I’ve got to coach this better. Like too often right now when you watch our pass game, I just don’t think everybody on the field sees the game through the same lens. And to me, I always start with me on that. I got to find a way to help coach this where we’re all seeing the game the same way. And right now I don’t think everybody, all the 11 guys are seeing the game the same way.
I think it’s easy to talk about the quarterback. But there’s 10 other guys out there that need to help him. So I really, for the most part all the way through, run game and pass game, I took a lot of time to reflect just on myself. How do I help these guys make sure we take that next step, we keep improving. I thought we have improved in certain areas as we went through the first five weeks. How do we take in particular in the pass game that next step to just be – we got to be way more consistent.“
— Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that the offense that ranks 31st in passing yards and 32nd in passing touchdowns needs to play better. But give Slowik credit for this, he pointed a thumb first, not a finger. We’ve seen that all throughout the start of the season. Malik Washington taking accountability for getting off his landmark on an open deep shot that Slowik dialed up against Cincinnati. Malik Willis taking accountability for his turnovers. And now? Slowik saying he’s got to be better, too.
That’s where the next 12 games come in. This unit has to be better and get better. If not, there will be noise building as the season pushes on. First year of a regime be damned. No one is pulling any punches on where things need to change for the passing game, which is good. Everyone has a slice of the pie — and all parties are claiming theirs.
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