Dolphins offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said Monday that the offensive starters will play more in Friday’s second preseason game against Dallas, that the staff would like to know its starting offensive line before the third preseason game and that his entire offense simply must improve. And do it quickly.
“We are going to play our guys a little bit more [Friday],” Christensen said, after the starters played only two series (with no first downs) against the Giants. “Coach [Adam] Gase said, ‘We are going to play them.’ When he’s seen enough, then we’ll put them out. I’m excited about that.”
Christensen made clear he expects more from quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the offensive line, the tight ends and the receivers (in terms of beating man coverage).
“We have to protect our quarterback better,” Christensen said. “We have got to run it better. We got to throw and catch it better. These next two weeks, if we don’t see some big improvements, then we better get a little bit nervous. We should see some big improvement these next two weeks.”
Asked if Tannehill is getting the ball out quickly enough — a key in this offense — Christensen said: “No. I don’t think anything is as quick as we want. Nothing — the protection, the run game, the pass game, the routes, nothing is as quick as we want. That has to all speed up if we want to get where we want to go.”
Christensen said the play of the offensive line hasn’t met the Dolphins’ standards. He also said he would like to identify the starting offensive line before the third preseason game Aug. 25 against Atlanta in Orlando.
