Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses Ezukanma, Long, interesting note about Tyreek Hill and more

Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel loves how fourth-round rookie receiver Erik Ezukanma is coming along.

“I’ve been very happy with him the whole time,” McDaniel said. “He’s made more plays now that he knows what he’s doing. It doesn’t surprise me. It will continue to get better and better. There are a lot of things he still needs to work on. He’s a driven dude.

“His best football is in front of him. He’s a big strong dude that can make plays on the ball. His college tape, one thing we loved about him is he was very hard to tackle. Those things you are starting to see a little more of…. You will continue to see him make some plays.”

McDaniel addressed other issues:

▪ On tight end Hunter Long: He’s “a player we had on our radar when I was on another team. He fits what we do. Very excited with him. This whole process, especially for tight ends, is difficult because of the scheme we run on both sides of the ball.

“The tight end position in general is a work in progress because we’re undoing a bunch of technique that they’ve been used to their whole football life.

“Hunter started out really strong, grasped it super fast. It’s a credit to the mind he has and the investment he’s made. Now he’s going through the second stage, honing technique and attacking each day. He gives the defense issues each day with how he attacks the process.”

▪ What does McDaniel mean by undoing a bunch of technique?

The previous philosophy was “not to get beat, as opposed to attacking with known help. For us, a lot starts with running off the ball. You want to make sure your guy doesn’t immediately tackle somebody.

“Here on these plays you will have help. Here you won’t. It’s a completely different mindset. It’s like every time he blocks, he’s running a route. It’s coming with that mindset. It’s like the adjustment the offensive line has to make [in this new wide zone scheme]. There’s more space between them and the defender.”

▪ McDaniel loves how the running back room is coming together.

“I’m very happy with that room. One of my favorite rooms I’ve been around. Just watch, if your eyes can go fast enough…. They want to win the job. They don’t want to be given it.”

▪ He said some veterans might not necessarily practice the entirety of both joint practices against Tampa Bay on Wednesday. or Thursday. Both of those practices - at the Buccaneers’ facility - are closed to the public.

▪ McDaniel called Tyreek Hill “a shorter player that doesn’t play small” and offered interesting insight on how coachable he is.

“He’s very accountable. He’s one of the first players I can show in team meetings and say this isn’t to our standard or this isn’t right. When I do that, I get a show of him correcting the mistake. He helped me set the tone with the players.

“I can say this isn’t good enough or this is awesome. He does that with his assignments. He’s the guy I can be hard on with his route depths and blocking, and every time he puts it on tape, [he shows] that he not only heard the coaching point but it’s important enough to him to fix it immediately.”

▪ McDaniel said nobody on the team has a longterm injury. That includes Byron Jones, Michael Dieter, Thomas Morstead and Sheldrick Redwine, who have been sidelined.

▪ On interacting with Dolphins executive Dan Marino: “You’re kind of prepared but never fully prepared for it. It’s a humbling experience but emotionally very confusing. I was born in ‘83. I grew up, really liked him. He was passing for 5000 yards when today it would be like 6000.

“I was a Broncos fan, so I spent my whole life saying John Elway was better than Marino. Magically, I’ve reversed course.”

▪ McDaniel on running back Chase Edmonds: “The scheme we run is different from one. “He praised his feel for the game and “cerebral approach. He has the feel to apply abstract coaching points. His productivity is obvious and doing a great job.”