Tua Tagovailoa – January 5, 2022
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Wednesday, January 5, 2022
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(As you move past last Sunday’s outing and focus on the season finale, is there one thing you’d like to clean up and focus on and improve on as you wrap up the season? What would that be?) – “I would say just our operation offensively. We haven’t been consistent and I would say just the consistency of that.”
(I know it’s tough coming off a rough game and still having one game left, but how would you evaluate the was this sophomore season has gone for you?) – “It didn’t go the way that I wanted it to go. It didn’t go the way that our team wanted it to go. It’s tough when you have an opportunity and you don’t capitalize on that opportunity. It’s tough.”
(When the trade deadline came and went, it obviously meant these last two months of the season were yours. Now that it all but came and went, do you wonder if those trade conversations for another QB may come back up this offseason?) – “No and I’m not worried about that. If it comes up, it comes up. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
(What can you take from a game like last week in terms of a big game down the stretch – moving forward with your career, you’re going to have big games down the stretch. What can you take from that experience, that you can go ‘I can learn from that about this type of important game?’) – “I think all of the games that we play are important for us as a team. We don’t just look at one in particular. We do look at the mistakes that we’ve made after every game that we’ve played and see what we can fix to help us become successful so we don’t make those same mistakes. I think for me it’s being able to simulate the cold weather scenario and trying to throw a ball while it’s wet at the same time in cold weather. A lot of the good teams are cold weather teams as well. I think that is something to take into consideration this offseason for myself. I’ll probably go visit my brother or take a trip somewhere that’s cold and kind of get the feel of that.”
(This season there have been so many ups and downs and there is so much going on around the season. I’m curious, has it been a fun season for you in totality?) – “I would say it has been a fun season. Just being able to go through the ups and downs with the guys that we have on our team, just us continuing to believe in each other while things weren’t going right and then when things were going right. That’s why we’re in this industry and why we do what we do because of the feeling of when you do win and you do accomplish what you want to accomplish, it’s a good feeling for all of us.”
(You talked about the consistency of the offense and obviously you guys have struggled for the majority of the season offensively. What will it take for this offense to get out of gear three and get to that next level outside of just consistency?) – “Well, I think for us it starts with consistency. In order for us to get things going, we’ve got to do the things that we do really well, we’ve got to do them good. If we’re not doing those good, we can’t really jump shifts. We can’t go from gear three to gear four to gear five if we’re making mistakes on one and two. That’s the whole belief with our consistency offensively.”
(Your opponent this week, you obviously saw them back in September. What have you seen from them as they have gone from their first week edition of the Patriots to now Week 18 when you look at them on tape?) – “We always knew that they were a good team, well-coached. I think they found their rhythm playing with each other. They have a good front, they have good ‘backers, they are a good overall team in all three phases. It’s going to be a challenge and to me, this isn’t the same team that we saw in early September. They look a lot more confident so it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
(Head Coach Bill Belichick’s mark against young quarterbacks or quarterbacks with minimal experience, he’s been pretty successful. What do you think it is about the way they play defense that makes it harder on quarterbacks who haven’t maybe seen as much football?) – “I think they force the quarterback to get the ball out of their hands quick. They force quick decisions. They don’t give up big plays. They want you to work for your touchdowns. If it’s a checkdown that works for 10 yards, that’s the kind of game they want to play, I think. It’s a take what they give you and when you have your shots, you’ve got to take your shots when they arise.”
(This weekend you have the possibility of ending with a positive record like you did last year. What’s the difference you think between the situation this year and what have you learned that is different from last year?) – “In terms of the situation, I would say it’s similar in a way to last year, just because we’re not in the playoff race anymore. I would say our guys are still coming out to practice, still coming to work with a good frame of mind. I think that’s one of the most important things is everyone knowing that we got to finish this last game strong, and no one has really checked out yet.”
(We begin this season trying to sort out what this offense’s identity would be. Now that the season is winding down, how would you describe this offense’s identity or has it developed one yet?) – “I think for us offensively, we want to be able to establish the run to set up a lot of our (play) actions. We just want to be able to control the game that way. Some games were like that. Some games weren’t. I would say that’s kind of the identity we tried to set as an offense. Just trying to be able to control the game. Some games we were able to and some games we weren’t able to close it out. That’s how it is.”
(I wanted to ask you a question from one of my co-workers who is working on a story about Jeff Allen. I’m just curious what kind of relationship you have with Jeff, what kind of relationship you had with Jeff down at Alabama, how much time you guys spent together, what you remember about him from your time in Tuscaloosa.) – “I had a really good relationship with Jeff. Jeff’s pretty much a legend there at Alabama. He’s been there since a lot of the greats have been there and come through Alabama and then left. Very good guy. He’s a family man. Very likeable. Very much respectable as well. But yeah, he’s obviously helped me with a lot because of the injuries that I’ve gone through at Alabama. I have a lot of respect for Jeff.”
(Do you have a specific memory that comes to mind when you hear Jeff’s name or when you think about him?) – “Not necessarily. Probably things I’d like to keep in private. (laughter)”
