Tua Tagovailoa – November 11, 2020
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Wednesday, November 11, 2020
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I wanted to ask you, I talked to Head Coach Brian Flores a little bit about this this morning, but there’s so much national attention on you, on this team, on this defense. With such a young team, is there anything that you guys say to each other to just kind of keep your head focused and then I also wanted to ask you about another big weekend for the Tagovailoa brothers and just kind of conversations between you and your brother about the success you guys are having so far?) – “I’ll start with me and my brother. After games, we call one another literally while we’re in the locker room, but after this past game I called my parents. I FaceTimed them and whatnot and then I FaceTimed my brother. It’s always good to just talk to him and whatnot and he always asks questions and has questions for me, and I just tell him certain things that went through my head and then also talk to him after; but we’re always supporting one another in that sense. But I think as a team, the way we go about doing things every day, it’s kind of hard to get complacent. So the way we go about doing things is just with what ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) says, is just keeping our head down, continuing to grind. The feeling of winning is good, but the feeling of loss is – it’s the opposite end. And we don’t want to feel that. So we know that in order to give us the best chance to be successful, we’ve got to go in and we’ve got to work hard in preparation as well as executing, and like I said, preparation for the team that we’re up against.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores was talking today about your dead leg move on Cardinals S Budda Baker. Said he hadn’t seen you use that one at Alabama. I’m wondering, is that a new move? Where did that come from?) – “I’m not too sure. (laughter) I was just out there trying to play football. I thought I had an opportunity to try and make a guy miss. I know he probably wasn’t expecting that. I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer that. (laughter)”
(Those are some nice trophies back there. You’re nearly I guess a year removed from that injury you suffered at Bama. Does that year mark have any added significance for you and how close do you think you are to your old self?) – “Oh, man. I don’t know if I’ll ever be my old self because when something dramatic like that happens – it’s just a continuous process I think for me. Just continuing to focus on what I need to do to continue to strengthen the muscles around my hip and so forth and just continue to stay on rehab. It’s been a journey. It’s just been a journey just looking back at that whole process. Literally almost a year from now, we’re making a decision to decide if I was going to be able to play again or not. I’m just blessed to be here.”
(I wanted to ask you about the communication you had with Tight Ends Coach George Godsey throughout the course of the game. I had a chance to speak to TE Adam Shaheen, who told me that Godsey is a one-of-a-kind communicator. I’m just curious about your interactions with Coach Godsey and his ability to kind of come in there and do a job that he hadn’t been doing all year in the game on Sunday.) – “I think that’s what this whole year has sort of been about. It’s been about adjustments and we didn’t have a lot of our coaches out there, so we had to make some adjustments coaching-wise. So with Godsey being able to take that role – I don’t even think this is his first time doing that, as well. I understand he’s been an OC (offensive coordinator) before, too. So this was nothing new to him. But as far as communication, I think it was a pretty good job from Godsey’s part, as far as getting the play in and then also certain reminders coming onto the sideline before series in and out.”
(I believe last week you said finally being able to get some game film was really beneficial for you, so I guess I’m wondering what you’ve been able to take away now that you have these two starts under your belt and was there anything you thought you were able to correct or improve upon from start one to start two?) – “Yeah, start one to start two, I would say we were able to push the ball downfield a lot more. We were able to get into a groove offensively with the pass game as well as the run game, but I think there’s just continuations of what you can improve on and I think that’s the best thing and that’s the best way to go about it, and if you feel like there’s nothing else you can improve on, then that’s not good.”
(The NFL Films crew caught a pretty heartfelt moment there at the end of the game where you gave that ball to Head Coach Brian Flores. What inspired you to do that and can you just kind of take us into that moment of did it seem as special as it looked on film?) – “I had seen ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) and ‘Flo’ was waiting and I had the game ball. When I went up to him, it was just one of those – for me, it was like ‘thank you for taking a shot on me.’ Like I said, a year ago, who would’ve known I could’ve had a season-ending injury; but the Miami Dolphins decided to take a chance on me. So that was awesome.”
(I wanted to ask you about the wide receiver situation. We got news today that WR Preston Williams is going to miss at least three weeks. How big of a blow is that to the team? What receivers that we haven’t seen much of on the field are you confident can step up and how are you going to distribute the ball now?) – “It’s tough losing someone like Preston (Williams), who’s kind of been a game-changer for us while he’s been in there. He’s been targeted a lot more I feel like this year in our offense; but it’s next man up. Really, it’s pretty much all the guys that you guys have seen when we played the Cardinals. That’s pretty much the guys that need to step up and there’s probably going to be some other guys as well, but it’s just really a daily competition for all of us – receiving corps, quarterbacks, the list goes on – and so nothing really changes as far as who I’m going to target more and whatnot. It’s I’ve got to go through my progression and if that’s the open person, then that’s where the ball needs to go to.”
(Just wanted to get your perspective on Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy and Raiders WR Henry Ruggs III have obviously had impacts with their respective teams out here in the AFC West. What made each one of those guys unique to throw to during your time together at Alabama?) – “First, they’re both really good, but they’re both really different. Henry (Ruggs) is really explosive. He’s really fast. Everyone knows that. You can throw it at whatever radius you want to and he’ll go and get it. And then with Jerry (Jeudy) – Jerry is a playmaker. Those big-time plays, Jerry’s going to go down and make those for you. His route running is, I believe it’s superb. I’ve been very fortunate to have been teammates with those guys, and I’m happy for them with their success that they’ve been having so far in the NFL.”
(Because Chargers QB Justin Herbert was drafted one spot after you, I kind of feel like your careers will always been intertwined. Five, 10, 20 years from now, people will be wondering, well how did it turn out? They took Tua, they didn’t take Justin. How do you process that and sort of how do you feel about that comparison that will forever be made?) – “I just think that’s just something that’s going to have to be dealt with in the media. I have no animosity towards Justin Herbert and for me, it’s not even a competition between me and him; it’s a competition for myself to go out and see what I can do to help our team be successful against their defense. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same for Justin as well; but yeah, that’s kind of my thought with all of that.”
(This is obviously an unusual year to come into the league, especially for a quarterback trying to get up to speed. I’m wondering when you look back in the summertime, even though there was not a lot of on-field reps to be had where there would’ve been usually and no preseason games, what did you do and your coaches do that allowed you to get up to speed in the preseason that was obviously abnormal?) – “I would say nothing really changed from like a camp/practice standpoint. We just practiced and we had walkthroughs for the rookies and the rookies would have early meetings before our actual position meetings; but yeah, you said it. It’s difficult when you don’t have an actual preseason, but it’s for every rookie around the league where we’re all learning on the fly right now. It’s either you’re going to pick it up or you’re not.”
