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Darrell Bevell – September 15, 2022 Download PDF version

Thursday, September 15, 2022

QBs/Passing Game Coordinator Darrell Bevell

(It’s kind of uncanny the amount of attention QB Tua Tagovailoa gets on these national talk shows. You had six people weighing in this week alone – Kurt Warner, Keyshawn Johnson, Sean Payton – and it’s been continuous for nine months. I’m going to ask you what I asked Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith, if you’ve been on a treadmill at all the last nine months and looked up on ESPN or FOX and saw him being discussed, what do you make of the preoccupation with him? Is the scrutiny excessive? Does it just come with the territory?) – “I think it comes with the territory. I think it’s part of playing the quarterback position. You’re always going to be looked at. I think the year that Tua is in, everybody says ‘Oh, this is the important one.’ But I couldn’t be more happy and excited about what Tua has been doing. The growth process that he’s had, the information that he’s digesting, learning a new offense again. He’s doing a really good job in it. As we talked about, we’re just trying to get better each and every day. This first game is not going to be our best game. We want it to be a good game and then we want to continue to grow from there and playing our best football when it’s really going to matter.”

(There was some talk between QB Tua Tagovailoa and Head Coach Mike McDaniel about some communication and headset issues and getting plays in late on the game on Sunday. I just wanted to get your perspective on how Tua handled that situation?) – “I think Tua handled that well. He even did a great job of getting us into a play when we needed to so we didn’t end up having to burn timeouts or we didn’t end up getting delay of game. So he handled that well. For the first game, it was good for us to learn one another and to be able to do that in a game where you win the game. But our game operation is definitely something that we can work on from the head coach, to the quarterback, to the line making calls – the whole orchestration, moving around with all of the motions that we’re doing. We can continue to get better at that.”

(From studying QB Tua Tagovailoa’s tape last year, you probably noticed that he is determined to avoid sacks, like most quarterbacks are. So there were sometimes where maybe he threw passes that he shouldn’t have. Obviously on Sunday, he tried to get a couple out of bounds. What is the guidance you give him on whether to take a sack or whether to throw it out of bounds?) – “Well, you’re always trying to play smart situationally. The one where I think we were on the 29-yard line and took a 12-yard sack – you’re always trying to understand the situation. ‘We’ve got points here. We don’t want to be taken out of points.’ I think he had some of that in his head. But always the most important thing is the ball. We have to end the play with the ball. We have to make great decisions there. I talked about I think there were three plays and I’m like ‘We’ve got to get this out of our game where you’re being slung around,’ because you don’t know what’s going to happen with the ball. The ball comes out of your hand, you sling around and it ends up in one of the defensive linemen’s hands. But from your perspective, you guys don’t always understand where guys were supposed to be protected and where they weren’t, and if you’re protected or if you’re not, the quarterback has to understand that as well. Those are situations or things that we’re continuing to learn from.”

(QB Tua Tagovailoa said that his timing and footwork were off on a couple of passes that ended up being short or off the receivers. I’m curious what you saw on his mechanics on a few of the plays?) – “I like where Tua is at mechanically, for the most part. I’m not saying that we don’t have plays that we can improve on. But for the most part, he’s done an outstanding job with his footwork. I think you can go back and look at some of the plays from last year as opposed to what he’s doing this year. It’s a major focus for us. He’s buying into the focus and I think he’s done a good job with that.”

(Was there a time you did see any of the national pundits’ names you know or played in the league, say something about QB Tua Tagovailoa over the last eight months, where you said to yourself, ‘That’s unfair. That’s ridiculous.’ I wouldn’t ask you who, but has that happened to you?) – “I can say that I have seen some of it. It’s not for me to say if it’s fair or not because people have their own opinions. I’m just glad that I’m in the building and know what’s going on and that I get an opportunity to watch the guy work every day and I know what’s going on, on the field. I’m happy with where Tua is at.”

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