Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey (8.5.24)

Kevin (Stefanski) said yesterday that you guys were still undecided if Deshaun (Watson) will play in the preseason. Where do you fall on that?

“Yeah, I think organizationally, we’re still working through it. At the end of the day, you know, those are decisions you don’t want to rush. You want to make sure that you make decisions that are of the best interest of the team and best interest of the player. So we’re going to continue to look at it. And, you know, Kevin’s got a lot of experience doing this stuff, so he’s got a great feel for us, our organization, our team, and in terms of those decisions, and it’ll be a group discussion to finalize.”

 

You were quoted on ESPN by (Dan) Graziano that you said he needs live reps.

“When I say that, I mean practice especially, being out practicing, you know, throwing the ball around like he’s doing, I think is great for him. You know, and those reps of getting back into the flow against, we got a great defense, you know? So seeing those, seeing those reps, seeing those different looks that our defense gives them and being able to stack those reps on top of each other are huge, huge for him. And then anything in the preseason that if we decide to go that direction in the preseason, those will be bonus reps for him on top of that.”

 

Ken, where do you feel like he is at in terms of where you thought he might be? Basically eight practices in, in terms of the arm, the arm strength, the accuracy, all of that?

“Yeah, no, I think he’s progressing well for us. I think he’s doing a really good job, one, managing his body, managing his shoulder, having great open communication with us to make sure it feels like it’s in the right space for him so he could go out and play confident, but physically out there throwing it, I think you saw him get some balls vertically downfield throughout camp, which is very encouraging to see and a great positive for us. And you see him making all the throws necessary that we need to make within the system. And to Tony’s (Grossi) point, like, the more he practices and the more he sees those live reps in practice, the more comfortable he’s going to get. Kind of as we go right here.”

 

During the offseason program, it looked like the throws were a little shorter than we’re starting to see now. Was that kind of part of the plan all along, to stretch him out in increments with, you know, the length of the throws? He had a couple deep ones yesterday and things like that.

“Yeah. And in that final minicamp, the encouraging thing going all the way back there is he did let one out there in that minicamp, kind of the first throwing session in a team period, so that’s always the thing you look at just to make sure, ‘hey, do we need to put a cap on the amount of yards he’s throwing, the amount of total throws he’s making in practice.’ Those are all things that are discussed internally with us, with the medical staff and us as coaches. And right now I think we’re in a good spot in terms of the making, the width of the field throws, length of the field throws. Just making sure our volume number is an appropriate number to make sure we continue to ramp him up in a positive fashion.”

 

Is that something that he has to develop absolute confidence in his arm to be able to just rip it? And has he done that yet where he is just really full on tried to attempt the deepest ball that he can?

“No, that’s a good question and I don’t want to speak for him, obviously. I think that’s something that he can attest to. But, from my experience and just from coaching the position, I think it’s a lot of the position in general is about confidence and going out and doing it and repping it and making a mistake or making a good play and learning from those things and growing from those things. I think part of that is always just the confidence of going out, ‘Hey, can I fit this into this window in practice?’ And that’s where you learn, can I do it in the game? So you do want to obviously play practice like a game and make a game like, but also you’re going to try to do some things to see, ‘hey, can I do that in the game?’ So it’s not the first time. And I think that’s the feel. He’s continued to get within what we’re doing systematically.”

 

He’s not quite there yet to that 100%?

“No, I haven’t seen him. I haven’t seen him have any issues in terms of not being 100% or anything like that. I think. I think he’s doing a very good job. It seems like he’s feeling well, throwing the football. I’m more talking about just, hey, with the different stuff we’re doing, just making sure that feel of this throw driving it into this window and those types of things. I don’t see any issue with any type of arm stuff right now. And again, it’s a thing that’s going to continue. You don’t want to mess and mess around with a quarterback’s shoulder or elbow or anything like that. That’s how they do their job. So we’re going to continue to be smart with them and continue to evaluate day-by-day to make sure we’re doing the right things.”

 

How do you feel about Kevin calling plays?

“At the end of the day, from day one in this process of interviewing and all that, Kevin was very upfront and honest about everything, and you don’t always get that in the league. And he was very upfront. And so I knew it going in that there was going to be a process to go through, and at the end of the day, I want to win football games and Kevin’s a fantastic play-caller and I feel good about where we’re at.”

 

Did he make that decision in the interview?

“No. No. I think that was, and again, Kevin could kind of attest where his decision thought process was and where his state of mind was in terms of making that decision. You know, I just know there was very open communication with me from him throughout the entire process, from the interview process to today.”

 

Were you disappointed?

“I think at the end of the day, look, this was a great opportunity to come to a great organization work with Kevin, which I’ve absolutely loved. And this is something that, again, I think with that open communication and knowing from the start what he’s thinking and everything, that’s what you appreciate as an employee in an organization. And I thought at the end of the day, he decided to make that decision. I’m 100% behind him and we’re ready to roll.”

 

So as somebody who’s called plays before, like, what changes for you in terms of preparation and gameday?

“No, it’s a good question. I think, you know, it’s a new role for me, to be perfectly honest, you know, to be the coordinator with the head coach calling it. I’ve always worked for defensive guys. So, there will be that feeling out process kind of as we go, which is great to have these preseason games to get that feel and get that rhythm, but it allows me to definitely be as involved as humanly possible with the game playing and putting the plan together for us. And then at the same time, also really be able to focus on our quarterback room and being prepared for meetings and being prepared for when they step out on the field in practice and on gameday.”

 

Will you be up or down on gamedays?

“That’s going to be again, we’ll kind of go through the preseason. As of right now, I’m seeing me being down on game days, but obviously, that could change. But right now, I’ll be down and we’ll evaluate, see how that goes for the preseason.”

 

Let me talk to Amari (Cooper). He mentioned he likes how fast you want to run things. Is bringing some up tempo to the system. Is that, is that something you really want to do?

“I think the, the stress to our players is like, ‘Let’s see how many plays we can run in a game.’ Like we want to run plays. The more opportunity we got on the field, the more opportunity up to score points. That doesn’t necessarily mean no-huddle either. That means, hey, when we are huddling, getting now the huddle with great tempo, give us as much time at the line and run as many plays as possible. Doesn’t mean mixing up the tempo. It could mean tempo, but that also depends on the game a little bit at times as well. So, it’s going to be one of those things where we’ve always got that ability to attack a defense in different ways, but we want to get up there and when we are huddling in out of the huddle with a great tempo, really constantly be putting pressure on the defense with us, whether it’s on the line, huddle, whatever that may be, middle of the game, two-minute and constantly be putting that pressure on the defense.”

 

What types of challenges have been here in camp where he had Jerry (Jeudy) out a little bit and then he comes back and now Elijah (Moore) is out for a little bit here. Just what type of challenge does that present you as you’re trying to get this offense going in time for the season?

“I think at the end of the day it allows you to kind of see what else you have and develop your roster. But as we, as we work these guys in, I think there’s still a lot of good time and they’re veteran guys. They’ve got great experience and great feel. So, we’ll just constantly work them in as we go and that’s, that’s part of the game. I mean, you saw that with this team last year and what they, what we had to go through last year as an organization, as a team and guys have to step up and be ready to go when their number’s called.”

 

What kind of resource do you think Mike Vrabel is for your tight ends and also the coaches who are working with that position?

“It’s fantastic having him with us, and it’s great having him in the offensive room. Really as a defensive coach who really takes the time to learn your offense and learn your system and now can provide you insight into defenses within what you do systematically it is awesome. And I think having him around has been great for us early on, and the different insight that he provides sides and he’s not afraid to speak up, which is also great, and so love having him around. I think that’s a huge resource for us, not only as an offensive staff but as an organization and just value his opinion a tremendous amount. Get a good quality start after the bullpen.”

 

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