Tua attracts extra reward, some skepticism from nationwide pundits. Dolphins coaches weigh in

You flip in your TV and also you’re prone to see somebody making an attempt to promote you automotive insurance coverage. Or speaking about Tua Tagovailoa.

Even after producing a 104.4 passer ranking in Sunday’s win in opposition to New England, Tagovailoa elicited a mixture of response — reward from ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky; obvious skepticism from Sean Payton; measured evaluation from Ryan Fitzpatrick; mocking, sarcastic approval of Keyshawn Johnson and questions from Kurt Warner.

“I have seen some of it,” quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell stated Thursday of the nationwide preoccupation with the Dolphins quarterback. “I’m glad I’m in the building and watch the guy work every day. [The national attention] comes with the territory, comes with playing the quarterback position. Everyone says this [season] is the important one. I couldn’t be more happy and excited what Tua is doing.”

Offensive coordinator Frank Smith stated Tagovailoa handles the fixed scrutiny “extremely well. You take it as a compliment that they talk about you. The minute they don’t talk about you [is because] you’re not playing.”

Among this week’s commentary:

▪ Fitzpatrick, requested about Tagovailoa on Pardon My Take, supplied an inexpensive evaluation:

“If you’re a top-10 quarterback, you have to have at least one trait that’s absolutely special, something you can do that no one else can do. [Buffalo quarterback] Josh Allen, I think, we see the arm talent. We see the way he can scramble and run, the hits he can take, the hits he can deliver.”

“[Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin] Herbert, physically, the same thing. With Tua, it’s not the the arm strength, it’s not the ability to run or scramble or get out of trouble.

“What is it? People say, ‘Well, he’s a winner.’ Dolphins Tyreek [Hill] says, ‘He’s the most accurate I’ve ever seen.’ When I first saw Tua, what pops out for me, because it’s hard for a young quarterback to come in and do this: anticipation and accuracy.

“Those are the things he has to be elite at. I think he’s very, very good at — very accurate and can anticipate. The problem is you sometimes have to create. He’s not going to be able to scramble – he’ll be able to scramble and get out of trouble and get you five yards.

“But he’s not going to be able to scramble around, escape the pocket and make the big plays down the field. So he has to take what he has that [can become] elite. That’s accuracy and, as he gets older, that’s decision-making. He has to be the best in the NFL at it, because he’s limited in some of those other ways.”

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Johnson — the previous NFL receiver — gave a lukewarm response to Tagovailoa’s first sport, calling it merely “fine” – neither “great” nor terrible – and playfully mocking Orlovsky for his help of Tagovailoa, asking if he’s purported to be a cheerleader for him.

And former Saints coach Payton stated he expects Teddy Bridgewater to finish up taking part in some for the Dolphins this season for causes that don’t have anything to do with an damage.

“I think at some point we’ll see Tua [benched] in Miami,’’ he told Colin Cowherd. “I think at some point — and they played well [Sunday] with Tua. But Teddy Bridgewater, I’ve had before; he’s an outstanding player.”

And NFL Network’s Kurt Warner stated on Twitter that Tagovailoa’s mechanics have been off in preseason, particularly on deep throws.

Tagovailoa, in the meantime, addressed a number of points this week:

▪ He likes to keep away from sacks; he took solely 19 final season behind a poor offensive line. He was sacked 3 times on Sunday and narrowly prevented a few others by throwing the ball away, typically awkwardly.

How does he steadiness whether or not to throw the ball away or take a sack?

“Yeah, I would say it’s hard as a quarterback,” he stated. “You’re wanting to make plays. But at the same time, you don’t want to want to lose the field position that you have, knowing you’re in field goal range. So I would say just on my part, I’ve just got to be smarter in those instances. Sometimes it’s not bad taking a sack as opposed to turning it over.”

▪ Tagovailoa stated he has “a lot of conversations with [McDaniel] in his office. And not just him calling me up there, but me going up there by myself just to talk to him.

“It’s different because Mike is different. Mike’s not your stereotypical head coach, if you will. He’s not a screamer. He’s not a yeller. If you mess up on a play, you’re not the worst player in the world. ‘Why did you mess up on that play? How can we help you fix that?’ I would say very reasonable teacher and very reasonable coach.”

▪ Tagovailoa talked about his top (6-1) as a cause why it’s much more necessary to ascertain timing with receivers.

“I’m not the biggest guy out there,” he stated. “So if I can’t see you, you can’t see me and I can’t get you the ball. And spacing with the guys. So if you can’t see me, get somewhere to where you can see me, then I can see you, then I can hit you.”

This story was initially revealed September 15, 2022 11:46 AM.