Tua Tagovailoa – November 3, 2021
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Wednesday, November 3, 2021
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers just tested positive for COVID-19 and he’s unvaccinated so he’s going to be out for 10 days. I’m just curious – I don’t think we’ve ever asked you – but are you vaccinated?) – “Yeah, I am vaccinated.”
(I know you said that you didn’t know when the trade deadline is, but it was yesterday.) – “(laughter) Yeah.”
(Is there any sense of relief? Not that you were expecting something major to happen but just a relief that you can focus on the season now?) – “Not necessarily. I mean my focus has really only been on the team that we’ve been playing and then obviously our team. My focus has been just what we can do better each and every day, and then throughout the week to hopefully get us a win.”
(What was your reaction when you heard – if you haven’t heard – that the team was so interested in trading for a quarterback that they requested to talk to him on Monday night? Obviously that’s a step that we haven’t seen before with this team. Was that kind of eye-opening to you?) – “I never heard of that so I don’t know.”
(I guess that is the case. Your reaction when you do hear something like that is what?) – “I mean you’re the first person that’s told me that. The trade deadline was yesterday so I don’t know.”
(I wanted to ask your thoughts about – I don’t know if you’ve heard but Raiders WR Henry Ruggs III was in an accident. Before, you had played with him in college. What are your thoughts about the whole situation?) – “I mean that’s tough. Obviously my heart goes out to the families that have been affected by what had happened – the choices and the decisions. My heart goes out to Henry too and his family. Obviously it wasn’t the right choice or decision that he made at that time. I know he wished he could have had it back. But when I heard the news, that was tough for me to hear, just knowing the kind of person that Henry is. You never think this guy could hurt a soul, so when you see something like that – I’m still kind of in disbelief. Obviously, like I said, my heart goes out to the family that has been affected by it. But yeah, my heart also goes out to Henry, as my ex-teammate.”
(I know a lot of your Alabama teammates are really close and still now. Do you guys talk as a group when something affects a guy in the community like this? You don’t have to tell me what’s said but what is that like?) – “Yeah, obviously me and Henry (Ruggs) came in in the same recruiting class at Alabama. Then we also came out in the same draft class. Yeah, we’re all so close. That’s just tough. He knows he has our support. That’s just a tough situation to be in right now for him.”
(Now that the cloud of this potential trade is behind you – the trade deadline – how do you approach these nine starts that you now have?) – “I think I continue to approach it the same way that I’ve been approaching it – day-to-day, the things that we can get better with every day and then obviously look back at the film and see what we can get corrected to help get us a win.”
(On an unrelated note, how often on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis do you talk with your brother, Taulia, and check in on him and how he’s doing at Maryland? Obviously you guys are going through your ups and downs and whatnot.) – “Yeah, I try to get on the phone with my brother at least once a week. I try to call, he’s busy. He tries to call, I’m busy. It’s like we’re playing phone tag at times. But more than likely, it’s Fridays where I can get his availability and he can also get mine if he’s not playing. But yeah, he has a lot of questions every time he calls. I try to help him the best that I can.”
(Obviously nine games left. What do you feel like you want to or need to show over these nine games for yourself and for the team?) – “I think the first thing is we want to get a win. We’ll start with that this week – try to get a win and obviously build off of that. I don’t think there is – it’s not really much to prove. It’s always what can I do better and knowing my expectation for myself and kind of how I want to go out there and play. Not really to anyone else’s expectations.”
(Do you view criticism as a fuel? Some players do. Is that something that is motivation for you?) – “Not necessarily. Really, I guess my biggest critic would be my dad. That would be kind of the biggest person that I would kind of think of every time I go out and play. It’s been like that my entire life. Good is never good enough. It’s always what can you continue to do to get better at.”
(How is managing that during this period? Because obviously it hasn’t gone well. How is that with your dad and some of those conversations postgame and during the week?) – “Well, my dad is a coach at heart. He’s been coaching me all my life. He knows things I can do, he knows thing I can’t do. So if I try to make up an excuse, his line is ‘I know you better than anyone else, so don’t tell me that.’ But yeah, high expectations from dad.”
(How do you keep it fun and light when you guys are going through what you’re going through? How do you make the game fun? That’s an important part of the game, I guess.) – “I think winning. That’s what we strive to do. That’s why we practice, that’s why we work so hard, that’s why we come in early – to prepare to hopefully get us a win.”
(How are you feeling physically? We haven’t asked you about that in a while. It’s been a few weeks now that you’ve returned to the field. How are you feeling?) – “Yeah, I feel good. Obviously some nicks and bruises after games but other than that, it’s good. Thank you.”
(You were wearing, I believe it was like a flak jacket or something for the ribs after the injury. Is that right?) – “Yeah, some kind of rib padding. I think it’s carbon fiber. I don’t know. It’s some high-tech stuff. (laughter)”
(Do you still need to use that or have you gotten past the point of needing it? Or is it just part of your routine now?) – “It’s just part of my routine. I don’t ever want to feel that again, so I’m just going to keep wearing it.”
(How does it affect you in terms of throwing motion, mobility and all of that? Or does it affect you at all when you’re playing?) – “It doesn’t affect me at all. I’m glad it’s there to help protect me. If I had to get hit – I guess the science behind it is if you get hit there again, the carbon fiber is supposed to disperse the energy. I’m not no scientist, guys. I don’t know. (laughter)”
(Is it cumbersome? Are you able to maneuver with it?) – “Yeah. I’m able to move with it well, so it’s good.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about your relationship with Head Coach Brian Flores just because you mentioned a few weeks ago that you appreciated the conversations that you had throughout the rumors. So I was wondering if you believe the relationship is any better now than it was. Not that I’m saying that it was bad, but is it better now?) – “I don’t know if I’d say that it’s better or if it’s worse. ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) is a very open guy. For players, his door is open for any of us to come in and have free conversation with him whether it’s about football or trade talks or whatever it may be. I think he does a really good job of communicating that to us and being very transparent.”
(When we talked to Head Coach Brian Flores earlier, one thing that he mentioned he knows you would want to improve is your downfield throwing. Obviously there’s a lot of factors in that including opponents’ coverage. What are some of the things you can do to make strides in that area?) – “I think it’s giving guys chances, first off. But obviously I think you just never want to force anything down the field. You still want to take what they’re giving you and then obviously make some adjustments to make use of those downfield throws. It’s not just plays, but it includes everything. It includes action-fake, if it requires an action-fake, a good pocket, protection, everyone knowing where to lineup. It requires a lot of things.”
(When Head Coach Brian Flores was talking about your development as a young player earlier today, he said ‘we have more time.’ Do you feel like there’s plenty of time?) – “I’m not much of a patient guy. I kind of want things to happen quick. The saying is nothing happens overnight and Rome wasn’t built in a day. For me, I’ve just got to continue to trust the process and what we’re trying to get done here. Hopefully we’ll start winning some games, starting with this week.”
