Tua Tagovailoa – December 20, 2023
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Wednesday, December 20, 2023
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(People actually doubted that [your signal] was what it meant, and then when they saw the Hard Knocks and actually saw you say it, it made them believe it. Because they thought you were talking smack.) – “If I wanted to talk smack, I think you’d probably know I’m talking smack. That’s not even close. (laughter) It’s just part of the game. It’s fun. That was fun. That ‘talk to me’ thing, really as we came into OTAs, Jaylen Waddle would just say that constantly throughout OTAs. Then I guess it’s just been used so much that I just started saying it to a point where everyone was like, ‘that’s hilarious every time you say it.’ In practice, I would throw a bomb and the d-line would be like, ‘Bro, seriously?’ And I would look at them and be like ‘talk to me,’ and then they’d start laughing. Then they’d start using it too. It really started out that way so I take no credit. That’s Jaylen Waddle’s deal but the whole signal thing just made it even funnier. It heightened it so people that were inside that knew what that was, could sort of hear me saying it and hear other people saying that when I gestured that. So that’s what that was.”
(Have you warmed up a little bit to Hard Knocks? I know early on you weren’t thrilled they were here.) – “They didn’t air my episode from the house yet? (laughter) I was messing. They haven’t asked this week or last week. I’m sure they have asked (our communications department) but (our communications department) haven’t brought it to my attention yet. I don’t know. But I mess around with them with that as well. I’ll just tell them, ‘I’ll see you guys later on tonight,’ and they think it’s funny when they don’t know if I’m being serious or not being serious. We’ll see. There’s still a lot of games left.”
(In the last Hard Knocks, they showed a speech that Head Coach Mike McDaniel gave the team and he took a lot of accountability with some of his play calls. What does that mean to you as a player when a coach is taking that level of accountability on himself?) – “I think that shows the leadership that he has that is not something that is a one-time deal. It’s something that as a team, we’re actually sort of used to. He’s one of the first to admit he’s wrong when he is wrong. And he is going to be also the first to admit that if it was a baller play call, that it was a baller play call. That’s the reason as to why we work, why we do this and why we invest so much into it. But it is sort of at a point where because he takes so much accountability, everyone also shares that same trait of ‘No, it’s my fault. I could have done better on my part.’ Everyone feels that sort of need or want to take the fall or take the blame. It’s rare that I think you ever see that in this league because it is tough and it is a job. It is result-oriented. What you put out there is however long you are able to keep your job or whatever it is. That’s what this league is and I think it is super cool that he does that and it trickles down to all of us.”
(What was your takeaway from the Bills-Cowboys game last week looking at the Cowboys defense considering their whole body of work has been much better than what you saw last week?) – “I don’t necessarily look at one particular game when we watch games. But you do want to look at games where they struggled, what were their struggles, things that we can take advantage of within the pass game and the run game. I sort of think of our team last week coming off the loss to Tennessee. I can sense that that’s where they would probably be. Not a very fun team meeting to be in. Guys are going to be dialed in, locked in, doing whatever they need to do to get that feeling off their chests or off their shoulders. For me, we’re going to prepare the same way we’ve prepared for any other team. We’re expecting their best. They’re going to do anything and everything they can to beat us and we’re going to do the exact same.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel was asked earlier about your interceptions and the fact that you haven’t really thrown any in the past three games. He said that that’s natural that you’re going to throw picks, but he feels like you’re progressing each game. How do you think you’ve grown maybe from the beginning of the season to now in the final month of the season?) – “Well, I think there’s continued growth every time I step out on that field. There’s always something new that I can learn. Just when you think you’ve got it and you’ve been playing for however long, however many games, there’s always going to be new things, new challenges, new obstacles, but that’s the beauty of this game. For me, I think that’s also allowed me to be the human that I am also. I think in this league, you also mature a lot quicker because as good as things can be, they can be just as bad the next week or the following week, and through all of those obstacles of the wins and the losses, there are so many things that you can learn from. This league is just like golf – you can go out and shoot really good one day and you’re like, ‘I’m in my rhythm.’ The next day, you go out and you forgot how to even hit the ball the way you were hitting it yesterday, and it will humble you in that sense. So it’s just like golf. Golf and football is the best way I could sort of correlate them”
(CB DaRon Bland has a lot of splash plays this year. When you watch him on tape, what do you see?) – “You just don’t show up on Sundays and poop that out, if you will. Having the NFL record in pick-sixes and whatnot, you don’t just show up on Sundays and do that. He’s done a great job. I think (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Dan Quinn has a done a great job for their defense as well. They’ve got really talented players up front, really talented players on the back end. We know what we’re going to have to do. We know what kind of game this is going to be. It’s going to be a hard-fought, physical 60-minute game and we’ll be ready come time Sunday.”
(I know Head Coach Mike McDaniel worked under Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn, and you’re so candid and honest, I know you’re going to give me an honest answer. How much does that help you when a guy has worked under a coach and he knows his ins and outs of his defense, obviously not with the Cowboys, but his mentality and tendencies?) – “I think it could go both ways of Mike (McDaniel) understanding how Dan (Quinn) has run his defense or how he would gameplan for teams and whatnot, but I also think that with Dan knowing that, that we could expect things that other teams have ran that have been successful against us as well. It’s sort of in between of we know but then at the same time, be prepared for the unknown. You’ve got to stick to your rules, what do your rules tell you, this is how you’re going to have to read this out if that’s the case. Then same thing could be for Dan. He’s been around how Mike installs run game, how they’ve done things with Kyle (Shanahan) and whatnot, so I think it could work both ways. We’ll just be ready for the unexpected.”
(RB Raheem Mostert was talking after the game about WR Jaylen Waddle and how maybe he was beating himself up throughout the year that he performs like he does? What have you seen in WR Jaylen Waddle throughout the year and now after that big game Sunday?) – “I personally – me personally, I’ve seen someone that’s just come in day-in, day-out, just grinding. Not once did I ever see him feel sorry for himself throughout the success that Tyreek (Hill) has had. But you could see that there had been sometimes where it was like, ‘Man, I sort of wished I was involved more or this happened more or this happened.’ It’s one of those deals where, I’ve said it before, we’ve called a play for (Jaylen) Waddle to be the person to be first in that progression and it just so happens that the defense doesn’t allow for that route to be open. As anyone else would, I’m sure he was very frustrated. Coming from being the ‘Wide Receiver 1’ in my rookie year and in my second year to ‘Wide Receiver 1B – where do I fit in this offense?’ So for him to have been able to go out and show to everyone and remind everyone, ‘Letting you guys know I’m still that person if you guys allow me that opportunity.’ I’m very proud of what he’s done, what he’s put on tape and what he continues to do for our team. But yeah, that’s what I would say about that.”
(You guys can clinch a playoff spot if you win this weekend. How meaningful would it be for you getting to play this late into the year and have that opportunity to do it?) – “I wish you didn’t share that. (laughter) I had no idea about any of the scenarios of what that would look like. At any time, we just want to come out of the game with a win. We want to stack those together. If you can win them all, that’s what it is.”
(Weren’t the Cowboys your favorite team growing up?) – “Yep. Cowboys were my favorite team growing up. They played in primetime a lot and in Hawaii, primetime is like 3:00 p.m. We were like, dang it’s night over there, the sun is still up over here. (laughter) I come from a family that are big Cowboys fans. But not anymore. Everyone is Dolphins fans. And then the one who still support the Cowboys are probably not my family anyways. (laughter)”
(What will it be like playing them for the first time?) – “It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be cool for the moment, just being able to see the star. Being able to see those guys in their jerseys and whatever and whatnot. Some of the guys that are playing, I used to watch them while I was in high school playing high school football. And now I get to play against some of the guys on their team. That’ll be cool but at the end of the day, I have a job and we want to go out there and beat them.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel just said it’s been a long time since a defense has played what they’ve showed you on tape adjusting to your motion and timing. Can you share the evolution for you and controlling the offense when it comes to timing and motion and what a defense is supposed to do versus what they do?) – “Well, I would say with our motions, it gets to a point where if we just call a play without a motion, it’s very weird. It’s not just weird for me, it’s weird for our entire offense. Are you sure we’re just lining up and running this play? There are perks to doing both where ok, they’ve motioned so many times and we’ve got however many looks from them, we’re expecting that. So guys are going to get ready. They’re looking at their keys and sometimes would just come up and snap the ball and not motion. I think all of that plays into the rhythm of our offense. They also play into keeping the defense on their toes. Every play we have to communicate. We don’t know what that’s going to look like, but we’re going to have to communicate. Whether if that’s with the front with the change of the strength with the Y or the other motions, the back end is going to have to communicate. That’s what it forces those guys to do. For us, because we’ve seen so many different looks off of those motions, it’s sort of helps how we need to block it in the run game and where we can see as far as space within their defense with the routes that we have.”
(The game without WR Tyreek Hill last week and being able to put up 30 points and move the ball like you guys did, was that something that confirmed something within yourselves? Or was any criticism about your ability to do so without them something that came from mainly outside the building?) – “Nah, I would say it’s always tough when you don’t have one of your best guys out there. To me, I personally say none of us really care who’s out there or who’s not. At the end of the day, whoever is in there, we all trust that we can get it done with those people. Even when I wasn’t in there last year, that was the mindset that those guys had. Ok, Tua’s down, we can’t do anything about. Tyreek is down, we can’t do anything about it. We have to go out there, we still have to play. Those guys don’t care that Tyreek’s out. Those guys didn’t care that I was out last year. It doesn’t matter. We have to go out there and play. I think that should tell you a lot about the guys that were out there. Everyone wants to make this, I keep saying it, everyone wants to make this about me, about Tyreek. Please keep pushing it to Tyreek. Make it about Tyreek. I understand that my platform and who I am in this league as a quarterback makes me – if you want polarizing, whether I’m the best, whether I’m the worst, I could care less. I don’t listen to it. This is my bearer of bad news, (is the communications staff). I hate to say it, but that’s my bearer of bad news if anyone has something bad to say about me. (laughter) But at the end of the day, I really don’t care. If it is shared with me – I mean, I keep receipts. We all have a way of how we do things. But all the narratives about it, sure I’m only good with Tyreek. You’re right. That’s the only time I’m at my best. You’re right. I’m only good when Jaylen (Waddle) is in. I could care less about it. Sure, if Jaylen and those guys are out, I’m only as good as Raheem Mostert allows me to be. If that’s what the narrative needs to be, and we’re able to win games and we’re able to go where we want to go as a team, I am the worst football player, if that’s what you want. I don’t care. I really don’t. Whatever it is, whatever you need on your show, take clips out of what I just said, do what you need to do. I’m just here to do my job and my job is to help our guys win games.”
(It’s not a narrative, it’s actually a fact that you’re the most popular player in the NFL among the fans. No player is more popular than you. You’re number one in fan support. How do you feel about that?) – “It makes me feel weird. (laughter) It’s different just because I try to not make things about myself. I like to make it about others. That’s probably – yeah, it’s unique, I would say. Of course, I appreciate the support from the fans. I appreciate those that are in support of me and my teammates. What statistic makes you say that?”
(You lead in all the Pro Bowl votes.) – “Oh, ok I got you.”
(When you see all the No. 1 jerseys, is it something that is so calming it doesn’t even resonate with you or does it still have a little impact on you? There’s so many jerseys. These people are wearing your number.) – “Well for me, every time I step out there on the field, it’s always about me proving myself right every time. You came into this league and I would even question myself. Am I even good? Do I even belong in this league? Things like that. Every time I step foot on that field and I see someone wearing my jersey, I want to prove myself right, but prove to those people that, ‘dude, you bought that jersey for a reason.’ Whether you’re a fan of me as a football player or a fan of my journey or a fan of things that I’ve done, every time I see that, it’s super cool. As a kid growing up, I would do the same thing for other players. I’d wear their jerseys hoping to be like them. Now, it’s come full circle. To be able to hear that, that’s very cool. Just how that process works, it’s cool. But like I said, it’s also a little weird when I become the spotlight of it.”
(Your brother is about to go into the draft, preparing for the draft. What was your reaction to hearing that? What advice do you have for him?) – “Well, I’m always here for ‘Lia (Taulia). I’m always here for you. You know that. Whatever you need, I can help with. But outside of that, I just tell my brother to listen to what he thinks is best when he hires agents or when he has to go throughout that process. I’m not the one who’s going to tell you who you should go with or whatnot. That should be totally up to you. Because when it’s your decision, regardless of if it is right or wrong, in the end, you always make it right.”
