Tua Tagovailoa – December 14, 2023
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Thursday, December 14, 2023
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Upon reviewing the tape, were there things you noticed about the offense with and without WR Tyreek Hill?) – “Yeah, I think we got a little out of sorts with how we went about our drives. I think one of the biggest things that happened, that I think personally had something to do with the game, was when Connor (Williams) went down as well. But this is how the league works. You pray that you can have healthy seasons and you can stay healthy for as long as possible. But it’s a physical sport, and things like that happen. So, when those things do happen, how do we as a team come out and just not let our foot off the gas.”
(Obviously physically a short week like this is tough, but emotionally are there some advantages to it? There’s no choice, you’re getting out on that game field again. There’s not enough time to wallow about this stuff.) – “Yeah. I think for a lot of the guys that came in on Tuesday, we had our corrections. We understood we had the game right there in our hands and it was really a full team effort as to why we didn’t come out with a win. It’s something we talked about. We had a great team meeting about it as well. We’ll be better for it and we’ll learn from that and move forward to the Jets this week.”
(When you look back at your football playing career, not just here, when you think back to any defeats that really were crushing-type defeats, what do you see is the best recipe for overcoming that? Is it coming out and breathing fire next week or is it just forgetting what happened? How do you regroup and recover from such a loss?) – “Yeah, I think that the thing for us as a team to regroup from something like this is not to be emotional about it. We don’t want to come into the game thinking we need to this, we need to do that. We just need to play within the rules and principles of what that play entails for us to do. And we have to go out there and execute. That’s all we should be worried about. Literally taking it one play at a time and just playing each play within the merit of that. That’s how I think of it. That’s my approach to it. We’ll get better from that last game.”
(I don’t think any quarterback wants pressured. They want a clean pocket and all that. You as a quarterback, how can you be better when it’s kind of messy up front?) – “Well, I think the thing that I can do better is let each play stand on its own merit. That was a good rep for me last week because it took from Week 1 all the way to whatever week this is or whatever week last week was to get that rep. I’m actually really glad I got to get that. You can only get better from that.”
(Is pressure different when its coming from up the middle in the interior as opposed to off the edge for you as a quarterback?) – “Brother, pressure is pressure. Whether it comes inside, goes outside, you got to get the ball out. You have to make quicker decisions. You got to know where you’re hot from. You got to play. Just have to go out and play.”
(I know there were a lot of issues on the offensive line, but most people took that game as this is what the offense looked like without WR Tyreek Hill. Obviously we don’t know what his status is, but what’s the challenge to the rest of the unit in terms of having to step up if Tyreek isn’t available?) – “Yeah, if ‘Reek isn’t available, I think Jaylen (Waddle) understands his role with stepping up. I think everyone else understands their role as well. It’s tough not having someone like Tyreek out there when sort of the entirety of the offseason was built around him and also Jaylen, and now you take away one of those pieces and guys can double Jaylen and leave other guys one-on-one. It gives other guys opportunities that can really do something special for us.”
(OL Liam Eichenberg is also dealing with something too. The team brought in two centers. I was curious if you already started working with them? And maybe what are some of the intricacies of the timing of the snap that you’re going to have to fix?) – “Yeah, I’ve been able to work with the new guys. The thing with that is exactly what you said. Just hearing the cadence, understanding that a lot of the things we do is based on timing within the emotion and snap points of the offense. So, it’s been a little different for those guys with where they’ve been and the cadences that they’ve heard. Just like anything, you need reps with them.”
(Do you like being under center or in the gun more?) – “It doesn’t matter to me, honestly.”
(What opens up when you’re under center as far as what you guys can do that maybe you can do out of the gun?) – “Action game. Play-action. When you’re in the pistol, it also helps as well. Just with what the ‘backers are looking at with their read keys. You don’t know if he’s going right, if he’s going left. It’s basically being in the I (formation).”
(What are the things you picked up from the Jets from the first meeting?) – “Yeah, I mean they have a good defense. But what we got to do is we can’t be shooting ourselves in the foot this game. We have to go out there, take what they give us, and just play our game.”
(What’s been the difference in red zone execution? I think through the first six weeks of the season you guys were like 80 percent converting red zone trips into touchdowns. Now it’s dropped a little bit, especially the goal-to-go efficiency. What’s been the difference between maybe the first half of the season and now not being as efficient?) – “Yeah, I think that’s something that I have to take because when we were down in the red area, there were some calls that I made that didn’t help us. There were some decisions that I made as well that didn’t help us. We had opportunities down there and in games like that here in December, you have to execute those. I think we only had two field goals down there. We had one blocked and we came out with six points while we were in the red area. We had a fumble as well on the first drive. Can’t end it like that. Can’t do that.”
(It’s always a familiarity playing an opponent you play twice a year, but playing an opponent twice in four weeks, how is that different than like the Buffalo schedule, where it is Week 4 and Week 18, so far apart. How difficult is it to get ready for a team that you saw four weeks ago?) – “I wouldn’t say it’s difficult. You kind of still have in mind what they played. You still have your notes on what they did. That’s fresh in your mind when you played them however long ago, two, three weeks ago. But I think the tough thing about it is they kind of got a gist of things we run. We also got a gist of what they sort of like to run. It’s sort of like cat and mouse. Whoever calls the wrong play at the wrong time or at the right time, whatever that might look like, it could come down to something like that.”
(With some of the red zone stuff that you were talking about, what’s the communication like in the trial-and-error understanding something that is or isn’t successful and to apply that to another opponent?) – “Yeah, well, every week is different with how we prepare for teams. Last week, what the Titans did is different than what the Jets do defensively. I think the thing that I have to do better is help our team score down there within the passing game. I think we’ve done a really good job down there in the run game, but in the passing game, if things aren’t there, just try to extend plays down there in the red area.”
(Tyreek Hill says you should be the team’s MVP. I don’t think we’ve ever asked your opinion. Who do you think is the Dolphins MVP?) – “I would say Tyreek. But I could care less for myself to be any of that right now. I know a lot of the guys could care less. I’m sure they’d be happy if one of our guys had it, but we just want to win games, and we want to win a Super Bowl here.”
(In the deep red zone, you guys have thrown fade balls and I don’t think you’ve converted a successful fade ball since Week 1 on the game winner. Is that more so, the decision to throw a fade ball, a low percentage pass I guess, is that more so about the defense crowding the middle of the field or the matchup?) – “It’s more about the matchup. It’s moreso the matchup with who we like out there and the speed that we have off the line.”
(You slipped a couple times. Did you have a cleat issue?) – “No, I mean that’s just on me. It stinks. It’s just on me.”
