Tua Tagovailoa – August 26, 2024
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Monday, August 26, 2024
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(QB Skylar Thompson is being retained and QB Mike White is being let go. Can you talk about both ends of that; Skylar winning the job and Mike being let go?) – “I have tremendous respect for both of those guys, for Mike White and for Skylar (Thompson). I just look at the growth of Skylar – it’s hard for everyone to look at the backup quarterbacks and the competition that they’re going through when I’m getting the most reps out there. I’m in the room those guys; we go over the film and to see his growth from his rookie year to this point has been something really, really cool, I think. Just learning this offense, keeping his head down – ‘Skylar you’re going with the twos. Hey Skylar, you’re going with the threes. Hey Skylar, you’re not getting reps today,’ and just seeing his mindset that he’s had throughout the years and also throughout the practices, I really commend him for sticking it through and being able to do what he has done. In those situations, it’s tough because someone has to win; someone has to lose. Me and Skylar texted Mike – I think Skylar talked to Mike on the phone, but just the relationship that we’ve had in that room had been something really, really cool. But at the end of the day, that’s part of the business. That’s part of the job, and Mike knows where I stand with him. I appreciate the things that he’s done to help us last year and then also this year as well.”
(With those quarterbacks, what do they do to help you particularly? I know I’ve heard other rooms, guys would ask guys to, ‘Hey, cut up these third downs.’) – “Yeah, and that’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. If it’s not the third downs, then it’s ‘Hey, your job is just to watch two-minute, and then on Friday you share with me two-minute plus-50, two-minute minus-50. OK, what happens when it’s a stopped clock? Do they pressure? Do they not? Or is that only on the opposing side once we cross the 50?’ So all of those, we got that, and then we’ve also got a lot of other things, too, because of motions and what not. So looking at the wristband, sometimes the play calls get super long, so another guy’s job is for all of those long ones, see what you can shorten up and we’ll talk about it. We’ll see, ‘No, that doesn’t make sense to me, because this or that.’ So then we’ll find another way to do it, and that’s sort of the ways that they can help me prepare for a game week.”
(So when do you assign those jobs?) – “That’ll be coming up soon. That’ll be coming up soon. We’ll see who we end up grabbing if we don’t get Mike (White) back when cuts are done and whatnot leading into next week.”
(How happy are you that the preseason is over?) – “It’s a bittersweet deal just because the relationships you build with some of the rookies and then a lot of the guys who have been vets but who have been going from team to team. It’s bittersweet just because of the relationships you have with those guys, but they also understand it’s a business. They understand how this thing works, and we wish them the best. It’s the whole reason as to why we have preseason, so guys can put their film on tape and hopefully another team can pick them up and they can go ball for that team.”
(You obviously had limited work in the preseason. I was curious with that second game, the first play Head Coach Mike McDaniel called was the same one you through an interception on. Was that your idea to call that play? And is that something that sticks with you?) – “Not my idea. That was not my idea, that was Mike’s (McDaniel) idea, but I kind of had an understanding that that’s the reason as to why he called it again. So I brought it up, and he had mentioned I was on to him. (laughter) It’s just with Mike, I guess it’s all something you can learn from. Whether it’s two years ago, three years ago, yesterday, and that’s what kind of came to mind. So I asked him and he told me I was on to him.”
(I don’t think anyone thought we’d be relitigating 2021 and 2022 this summer; have you heard from Brian Flores in the last week?) – “I haven’t heard from him.”
(Did you see his comments publicly?) – “I haven’t seen his comments publicly.”
(Is there anything more you’d like to add in the conversation to that?) – “There’s nothing more I’d like to add to that.”
(You mentioned in your comments to Dan Le Batard how he was highly critical of you through that process, and yet I think there was somewhat of a surprise that he made the change when he did. Why do you think that change, to bench QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and insert you, happened if he was so down on you?) – “That’s a great question. I’m not going to answer that, truthfully, right now. But I think I know why, but I won’t speculate or give anyone any speculations on that. Whatever you want to create to think, think that, but other than that, I think that’ll just stay here with the organization.”
(Do you think it’s more important for quarterback to have support of his head coach than maybe possibly any other position?) – “Yeah, 100 percent. This is a quarterback driven league; I 100 percent think that. Without a good team, without a good quarterback, I don’t think you can do much in this league. Sure, you can have a good defense, but there’s really good offenses in this league. You got to put up points and you got to find ways to do that. So I definitely believe that, for sure.”
(How does this week change for you from the perspective of going from training camp to getting ready for an opponent?) – “I don’t think it changes in any way. We’re continuing to go against the ones, and then when it’s time to work on our craft, we’ll go against the twos and really hone in on our communication, hone in on the details of what we need to do to accomplish what we want to accomplish. And when it is time for next week, then we’ll start to prepare.”
(I’m doing something on your depth, which I think has been very instrumental in you guys making the playoffs. Who’s been injured more than Miami? What can you say about the role that the depth has played on this team in the last couple of years?) – “Well, it’s been really cool because no matter who we’ve put in there, we were able to find ways to make it work at whatever position it was – center, guard, tackle, running back, receivers. We were able to find ways to maneuver through those, and I think Mike (McDaniel), Frank (Smith), I think those guys did a really good job with the personnel groupings as well for guys that are injured. OK, we’re going to probably go 21 (personnel) a little more than we would 12 (personnel) if our tight ends are down. Or we can’t go 11 (personnel) because of our receivers. All right, we’ll go 12 (personnel) more than anything else.’ So I think they do a really good job in grouping it with personnels and whatnot and how we want to maneuver the game that way.”
(Speaking of receivers, I’ve been here 16 years; I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a receiver unit so decimated by injuries as this year. How concerning is that for you? And WR Odell Beckham Jr., Head Coach Mike McDaniel said there’s a possibility he might not begin the year on the PUP and might be getting on the active roster. How important is you and Odell developing chemistry?) – “That’s very important. For me, it’s very important. Off the field, I’ve been able to hang out with him a good amount of times – cool dude, 100 percent. But does our relationship translate on the field? I couldn’t tell you, because I haven’t gotten reps with him and that’s just the honest truth. Now if ‘O’ (Odell Beckham Jr.) isn’t on the PUP list, he clears everything and we’re able to get out there, that’s one of the first thing I want to do – routes on air, want to make sure I get as many reps with him. ‘OK, he’s going to go in for this rep.’ Let’s make sure that this guy is going to get the ball, make sure the coverage isn’t whatever. I want to make sure that the timing is good, just want to make sure that that’s all good and whatnot. Speaking to your question prior to that, that’s just part of the game. Guys get injured and whatnot, and whoever we’re dealt with to go and play with out there, that’s who we’re dealt with to play with. I’ve had as good of receivers and as fun of receivers to have with Tyreek (Hill) and (Jaylen) Waddle, and I’ve also had guys who didn’t have speed like that, playing my first two years in the league. So we’ve got to go out there and we just got to find a way to make that work.”
(The roster is about to be set for this year obviously. What do you see from training camp and the roster that says, “OK, we’re ready to take the next step with this team?”) – “I’m going to go back to say, this is tough. It’s a tough day. It’s a tough week. The next two days are going to be tough for a lot of guys. Some guys’ lives are going to change for the better, and some guys not so good. But I can tell you one thing, I’m really excited for the next couple days after that to see the kind of team and the kind of guys that we’re going to be playing with in this 2024 season.”
(What has impressed you about RB Jaylen Wright and what are your expectations for him during his rookie season?) – “He fits right into that running back room. Fast. (laughter) He’s fast. He’s a rookie and might be seeing some (De’Von) Achane-kind of deals going on for him coming up this first week. So we’ll see. He’s learning, learning from a really good group of backs and I think he’ll do good for us.”
(In training camp it doesn’t seem – the starters don’t get a whole lot of work. You get your work in joint practices. The first few weeks of the season, how much of a feeling out process is that? This works. This doesn’t work. Tell me about that.) – “That’s exactly what it is. Everything is off of feel. If I like a play but the receiver kind of feels like he runs this better, we’ve got to adjust, because regardless of the coverage, regardless of any of that, if we feel like we can make it work, we’re going to find a way to make it work. And so I think that’s exactly what it is. If we feel like we can make this work regardless, it’s going to happen regardless of what the coverage says and what they put on they put on paper, we’re going to find a way to make it work.”
(What’s your confidence level in the offensive line in front of you? Specifically the interior of the line blocking for you?) – “Well, brother, I get the ball out fast, so I am confident with anybody we’ve got up there. (laughter) I’ll tell you that. I’m confident with anybody we get out there.”
(I keep hearing from players about how this offense is pushing the limits of what it can do especially now in Year 3. As the quarterback of that offense, what does that look like from your perspective?) – “Well I wouldn’t say we’re trying to reinvent football, but we’re just trying to turn the wheels a little different, if you will, with a lot of the things that we’ve tried to add on with motions and whatnot and different schemes – schematically in the run game and then what we can do off of those runs with pass or play-action. So really, we’re just finetuning all those and trying to find ways to make that work for this new year in 2024.”
(Even dating back to high school, is this the first time you’ve ever been in the same system three years in a row?) – “Yeah. Three years in a row? Yeah, I think so.”
(I was about to say, just kind of rare air for you then?) – “Yeah. (laughter) Yeah, it is really rare for sure.”
(We’ve seen improvements from a lot of guys on offense – TE Julian Hill, WR River Cracraft before he got hurt. Who comes to your mind first if I ask you most improved players offensively on this team?) – “Most improved players offensively? I would say from my first year with Mike (McDaniel), I would say River (Cracraft). Just the amount of things he’s had to go through throughout his football career and him scoring that touchdown two weeks ago or last week, that was – I don’t know. It’s almost bittersweet, but it’s almost like he can’t catch a break. Every time it starts to get really good for my man, it just gets tough. I would say he’s probably been the most improved in my opinion in camp this year until he got hurt.”
(How about defense?) – “Defense? Most improved? I’m going to say Chop (Robinson). I think Chop has grown a lot from the first time he’s gotten here. Earlier throughout OTAs – although I was only here for a certain amount of time in OTAs, but I think he’s done really good, and he’s earned a lot of respect from the guys in the locker room from a lot of veterans. So I’ll be curious to see what he does to help us to win some games this year.”
