Tua Tagovailoa – November 4, 2020
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Wednesday, November 4, 2020
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I’ve got a jersey number question for you. You and Cardinals QB Kyler Murray both wear No. 1 which has been pretty rare for quarterbacks. I wanted to ask what was your reasoning behind deciding that number and what do you think about it being more popular for young quarterbacks wearing it?) – “I sat down and talked to my dad about that. I sat down with him and his biggest thing to pick No. 1 was for the audience of one, and that’s more so on the faith side of things. So that’s why I chose it.”
(I have no doubt that your No. 1 concern is wins and losses. But I would like to ask you individually speaking – not as a team – but individually speaking, what constitutes a successful season for you this year?) – “I think it’s hard to speak individually because this is a team sport. We play this together. You need all 11 guys on the offense, all 11 guys on the defense and all 11 guys on special teams; and in order for you to win and accomplish your individual goals, everyone needs to contribute and do their part. And that’s what we’re hopefully looking to improve on as an offense this upcoming week.”
(I wanted to ask you about Cardinals QB Kyler Murray. I know you guys spent some time together during the Heisman trophy ceremony. What’s he like as a player, as a friend and how excited are you to kind of go up against him this week?) – “I’m very excited to go up against him. I would say first impressions when I met him, he’s pretty jacked up. For as short as he is, he’s – I mean, this guy’s rocked up. (laughter) But he’s very competitive. He’s very personable, too. I got to meet his parents as well at the Heisman ceremony. Very good family. Going against guys like that who are very competitive and you know you’re going to get their best, I think that’s going to be a fun one.”
(A lot is going to be made week-to-week the improvement from you. When you look back now, I know it’s only been a few days, but what are some of the things that you look at and say “okay, I missed, I can improve on, I’m seeing that I can do better in weeks moving forward?”) – “I think there’s room for improvement every day for me. I feel like I’m getting more comfortable in the huddle talking to the guys, getting the plays out and kind of seeing where everyone needs to go. I think the biggest thing for me is pocket presence. Being able to just step up into what feels like pressure and then also just making the throws that I need to give the receivers good run after catch.”
(I’m hoping you can help me with a question about the Samoan sports culture. First, I’m wondering if you know the new Clemson quarterback and also I’m wondering what your reaction is to the way Samoans are trending at that position. It seems like Samoan kids used to all want to grow up to be Junior Seau, but that’s changed.) – ”I do know DJ (Uiagalelei). I got to meet him and his family back at some camps. While I was in college, I’d go help out with some camps; but I think it’s something pretty cool to look around and see that our people – Samoan people – are not always going to be on the opposite side of the ball or in the trenches – on the d-line, on the defense or on the o-line. I think it’s pretty cool to see that guys from our culture can also play skill positions and quarterback. I think that speaks volumes to how they were raised as well and their upbringing, too.”
(I guess it’s a good follow up to the previous question, but obviously on game day this past Sunday, the social media team caught you walking in wearing clothing of your culture, tributes to Samoan culture. Can you just speak a little bit about the platform that you have, in many different ways, but then you also remember giving back to your culture in that way?) – “That’s how I’ve been raised. On Sundays a lot of the times, that’s what we’d normally wear going to church and that’s just cultural; but being able to share that with the world, it’s pretty cool that the Dolphins captured that and posted on social media and whatnot. It’s just a representation of who you are and also what you represent. It’s not just me and my family, but it’s also our people as well. I’d say we’re very prideful people. We take pride in a lot of things that we do, and at the same time, respect is really big in our culture. But yeah, the reason I do that is because every Sunday normally after church, that’s our attire.”
(We talked to Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey yesterday and he mentioned that the plan going in was to keep it safe, to kind of ease you into the NFL. Do you feel like maybe this week that’s not going to be the case anymore, that they’re – not going to let it rip but obviously open up a lot more to what you might do?) – “I believe my job is to do whatever play call we’re given. If it’s a run 20 times and it’s a pass one time, I’ve got to make it work that one time the pass is given and I’ve got to carry out my fakes those 20 times. But I trust and I think our offense trusts what Chan (Gailey) has planned for us offensively. And we go into the week knowing the game plan, what we’re going to do and how we’re going to try to attack their defense, but we have full trust that whatever Chan calls, we’ve got to go out there and do good with it.”
(A couple weeks ago, I had asked you how much you were able to learn from sitting behind QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and watching the way he game plans and prepares. I’m curious now in the absence of a preseason and having no live bullets really up until your first start, how much more can that really help accelerate your growth and what you’ve seen in your game having an actual NFL tape with a full game for yourself?) – “I think that’s almost the best way, I would say. That’s pretty much the best way I think for anyone in the NFL to learn. You can sit down and anyone can watch film really, but being able to go in and get some actual game reps, seeing actual rotations of the defenses and you’ve got to make actual Mike (linebacker) points and do things like that; I think those things go a long way in sticking in your head and knowing okay, if this comes up, I know what my answer is. And then just being comfortable as the games go on. You just get a good feel of the game and then you can also get into a good rhythm.”
(I wanted to ask you about last weekend and kind of getting to share a big weekend with your brother. Two Tagovailoa wins and you guys were on kind of the national stage together and I’m sure that had to be special to you both.) – “Yeah, that was very special. I think it was very special for our parents as well. That was very special for our family; but it’s always what’s next. You enjoy it that day. You enjoy it for those 24 hours, but you’ve got to keep working to improve.”
