Tua Tagovailoa – September 25, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 25, 2022
Postgame – Buffalo
QB Tua Tagovailoa (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
How are you feeling?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I’m feeling good. It always feels a lot better after a win, so I feel good.
From your perspective, can you just kind of break down what happened towards the end of the first half with you getting shoved, hit your head? Team said it’s a head injury, but now Head Coach Mike McDaniel just said it was a back injury. He said your back was kind – what happened from your perspective?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: On the quarterback sneak, I kind of got my legs caught under someone, and then they were trying to push back and then kind of felt like I hyper-extended my back or something. Then on the next play I kind of hit my back and kind of hurt. Then I got up and then that’s kind of why I stumbled – my back kind of locked up on me. For the most part, I’m good. I passed whatever concussion protocol they had, so I’m good.
Can you tell us about the 45-yard bomb to WR Jaylen Waddle? At that point, were you feeling anything throwing-wise? Or were you able to throw the way normal will you do?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It was uncomfortable going in. I guess you could say it was the adrenaline that was keeping me going with the throwing. But (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) called a play that he thought would work, and if we got a certain look, we wanted to take advantage of it. So, it looked like they ran a quarters coverage, and they played really deep, so I tried to hold the boundary – or the field safety to Tyreek’s (Hill) side. I tried to hold him and then I came back to (Jaylen) Waddle, trusting that Waddle would beat his guy, which he did.
It was kind of a weird game, not getting a lot of plays, a lot of possessions, but when you were out there, you were able to move the ball. From your perspective, what was it like kind of sitting on the sidelines for so long just kind of waiting to get the ball in and then having just so few opportunities and even with some guys coming in and out?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say that was the toughest part of the game. We never knew when our next (opportunity) would be, and then when we did get an opportunity, we had penalties on those, and then we would go three-and-out in some instances. Against a good team like this, you can’t do that. I think we rallied. You really look at it – the defense came through, and it kind of tells a picture story of what our team is capable of. It’s not just our offense being able to help win a game, but it’s the defense as well. And we’ve seen that today with their performance.
Buffalo has had your number of late, and now you guys are 3-0. You beat them. Where are you at as far as the season? Have expectations changed or raised at all?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: No, expectations haven’t been raised, haven’t changed. For us, this is what we believe. We believed in each other. We believed in ourselves. It might be new to a lot of the people that are watching, but for us, we don’t do anything more than what we’re asked out there on the field as well as practice, and that’s what we do. We just trust each other, go out, and play football.
Tua, you’re now 3-0, the last undefeated team in the AFC. How do you manage the celebration of this game, but then preparing for a short week getting ready for Cincinnati?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I mean, you enjoy it. You enjoy it now, but it’s a quick turnaround. So you have to move on quick and get ready for Cincinnati. For me, I’m just worried about getting my back right.
Tua, you guys, obviously, had great resolve at the end there after the safety. Can you talk about maybe your role now as a captain too? Were you stepping up and talking to people about how to stay and maintain the intensity at the end of that game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It’s kind of hard to get the guys riled up after they just came off. So I think we can do better offensively in a situation like that backed up trying to help end the game with the ball in our hands. But the defense went out there. They did their thing – really hats off to them. They played an outstanding game – tough. That’s a really good offense, explosive offense.
How would you describe your back injury? … What was that exact feeling?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Right now, it’s tight. It was sore when it did happen, but any competitor that would have never wanted to come out would’ve done the same thing. I just tried my hardest to get back up and get the next play and run it.
So to clarify, did you hit the back of your head when you fell down on that play?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yes, I did. I did, but I think I really hit my back first because that’s what I felt first.
Can you talk about the O-line and how they kept the pocket relatively clean for you today?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: They did a great job. I think they did a great job within the run game as well, and then within the play-pass, I think they did a good job operating that way. There’s still some miscues that we had from me communicating to those guys, but for the most part it was clean.
What did you think of the defense stepping up on two separate occasions as of late? And what your thoughts were as you’re watching on the sideline and can’t really do anything about it and just kind of watching?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Man, just let the defense do their thing. We’re always hoping for the best. We’re always hoping for a turnover. Our defense gives us a turnover, but you think of the drives that Buffalo had. They had some long drives. I don’t know how many plays, but they took a lot of time off of the clock. The stamina and then kind of going through it running around in the heat, a lot of guys were cramping up, but they stuck with it, and they helped us pull off this win.
Did you notice the Bills doing anything in particular to make up for the loss of their starters in the secondary?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, there were some things. There were some coverages that we didn’t see that Micah Hyde would be kind of orchestrated in, but they ran whatever the guys in the backend felt most comfortable, I would say. They tried to disguise some coverages. But for the couple of rookies that were out there, they did a good job playing today on the defense. You, obviously, have someone like Von Miller on their D-line making it tough for us to run the ball and then pass. I think our O-line did a great job kind of containing him and keeping him away from the quarterback.
Are you concerned about the back stiffening up overnight or anything? Do you think it will be pretty manageable?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: We’ll have to see. I don’t want to say I’m a genie and I’m going to feel good tomorrow. We’ll see. So, we’ll go get some tests, and then we’ll come back tomorrow.
