Tua Tagovailoa – December 8, 2024 (Postgame)
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MIAMI DOLPHINS QUOTES
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
Knowing how important every game on your guys’ schedule is for the rest of the season, how big was it to be able to get the plays that you needed down the stretch to be able to win this game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, it was really big. It was really big. And I think it’s a testament to our team. It’s a testament to the guys that were in there. We had a big amount of rotation with guys that were in there with receivers. Sometimes that’s how the games work. If their offense is doing well, we’ve got to answer with the same amount of points or points in general. And there were times where we didn’t do that, but thank the good Lord we had an opportunity to go back out there and show it. So that was fun.
Jonnu had one target the entire game, overtime, all of a sudden he’s the main guy, he’s the guy that wins it for you. What flipped there? What happened?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think Jonnu came up to Mike (McDaniel) and had to have said something to Mike to get him more included maybe, and that’s what ended up happening. It’s super cool because throughout the game, he never said anything. When he got targeted once, it wasn’t a drop, it was like, that was on me. After that, not seeing the ball; that can be discouraging, but he never blinked, and we gave him opportunities. Off that first screen, that was a tipped ball. Just the focus that he had to still catch that was great. That’s Jonnu being Jonnu. This is a different Jonnu that you guys have seen. This is the new-and-improved Jonnu.
What’s the mindset when you have to take over those drives when it’s 44 seconds left to force overtime and get into field goal range and then also when you have a chance to knock a team out with an overtime walk-off touchdown?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say what helped with that was our special teams, the return by Malik Washington. Great job by him, great job by those guys on special teams, and they gave us an opportunity to go down and hopefully tie the game up so we could go into overtime. The mindset was just that, just get a field goal, get into field goal range for Jason to kick the ball, and there you go.
(Inaudible) these websites have like win probability. When they had the ball at first-and-10 at the 27 with like a minute left, it wasn’t very high for you guys. I would imagine you…?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: What was it?
I think it was over 80 percent. So just your surprise they let you back in the game the way they did, and you guys taking advantage, what did it take to do that?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, I would say it’s a testament to our team. They go, they kick the field goal. Maybe on their sideline, they’re thinking, oh, they’ve probably given up already, it’s 50 something seconds or 40 something seconds after Malik returns it, I don’t think they’re going to be into it, given previous times that we had opportunities to do that, to go win the game or tie the game. You’ve seen what we were able to do, and just the mindset of the guys, like Tyreek had a lot to say in the huddle about us finding a way to go down, drive the ball, and get points so that we could go into overtime, and Waddle, the same thing, just getting our guys going. Like this isn’t the same Dolphins. That’s sort of the mindset, like come on. Like a prove-it mentality always.
What does this win mean for the team? I don’t have to tell you what a loss would have meant. So what does a win mean?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: A win means a lot. It means a lot because we have no room for error to lose another game. So we control our own destiny by focusing on the next opponent, and we’ve got to find ways to win all of our games down here at the back end of this stretch.
Two games out of a playoff spot with four weeks remaining. What do you think of the team’s playoff hopes right now?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think right now we’re just focused on this victory. We’re going to enjoy it. We’re going to move on to our next opponent, and we’ll go from there.
You touched on it and Tyreek spoke on it a little bit earlier. When you take the field down 23-15, what was that mood in the huddle? What were you guys saying right before stepping on to the field knowing that you don’t get points here, like we’ve said, the season is probably over?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I probably wouldn’t want to share some of the things we were saying, just to get everybody going, but just know we were getting after everyone inside the huddle to make sure that you’re blocking the way you need to block, you’re running the routes where you need to be. You need to be in the right spots. Just all of that. I thought it was super cool that on a fourth down you’ve got to find your best player, give it to your best player, and that’s what happened. Then we came back to our next best player on the two-point drive. That’s what happened.
To follow up on that because Tyreek said he ran a wrong route at some point and you got after him about it. Was it you leading the charge there going into that game-time drive?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I’m not going to say – I’m not a big ‘hoorah, like I got on this guy, I got on that guy.’ This is football. We’re all grown men. If I tell you, you just need to be there; if he tells me I need to throw it somewhere — like he got the respect from me, I got the respect from him. That’s how the communication I think works and how it should work in a professional level, in a professional setting and especially when the game is on the line. You’ve got to be where you need to be, and we’ve got to go do it. That’s it.
-DOLPHINS-
