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Dolphins’ Tua not taking recent interceptions lightly, looking forward to facing fellow Alabama QB Bryce Young

david furones, south florida sun-sentinel
·4 min read

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is on a record passing pace through five games, but he still speaks candidly about having to make improvements.

Especially after Tagovailoa is coming off a game where two interceptions kept the New York Giants in last Sunday’s 31-16 win at Hard Rock Stadium longer than they should have been.

First, with a chance to go up either 21-3 with a touchdown or 17-3 with a field goal late in the first half, he threw a third-down pass to the goal line into tight coverage. It was deflected by one defender, intercepted by another and returned 102 yards for a touchdown. It was 14-10 instead.

In the third quarter, the Dolphins were backed up in their own territory when leading by two touchdowns. His errant, floating, short pass to Jaylen Waddle while he didn’t have a lane to throw him the ball gave the Giants possession already in field goal territory.

“Any interception, any turnover, anything like that allows more than (enough) correction for preparing for a team,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday as he’s turning the page to the Carolina Panthers this Sunday, again at home. “That’s not something that, as a leader of our offense, should be happening. That’s not something I should be doing.

“I’ve been very aware of that. Doing my best, working as best as I can to hopefully eliminate those within these next upcoming games.”

Tagovailoa feels his relationship with his coaches — between head coach Mike McDaniel, offensive coordinator Frank Smith, quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell and others — makes the process of bouncing back from those turnovers easier.

It’s something the Dolphins have done. After each of his interceptions during the Giants game, he followed with a scoring drive. When running back De’Von Achane fumbled early in the game, he responded with his 76-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive.

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“That’s been something that I’ve also been working on for myself,” Tagovailoa said. “The more you continue to ponder on it, you can’t go out here with a clear mind to do your own job to help the team.

“Plays like that, they’re going to happen, but it’s how you come back from them. I think we’ve done a really good job of coming back from those.”

Nonetheless, Tagovailoa’s 1,614 yards through five games put him on pace, in a 17-game regular season, to break the single-season passing record. The mark of 5,477 yards was set in 2013 by Peyton Manning in a 16-game regular season.

Tagovailoa, though, is not eyeing any record and is locked into team success.

“If we don’t get to where we want to as a team, none of that would mean anything to me,” he said. “But, along the way, if we could get to where we want to get to as a team and those statistics could follow in helping win games, I’d be very happy.”

As Tagovailoa gets set to face the 0-5 Panthers, which he says are a team whose record is not reflective of what they are, he will go against Carolina rookie quarterback Bryce Young, a fellow Alabama grad, for the first time.

“As he’s maneuvering his way through the league and is finding out the type of person that he is, the type of player that he is, I know that he’ll continue to grow and continue to find ways to do good,” Tagovailoa said. “I got all the respect in the world for Bryce, and I wish him the best.”

Tagovailoa has a lot of respect for his college resume with the Crimson Tide.

“Things that he’s done over there at Alabama, I couldn’t even do,” he said. “For him to have won the Heisman, for him to have done the things that he’s done breaking records over there at Alabama, it’s a testament of the family that he comes from. It’s a testament of his hard work.”

Tagovailoa answered questions at his Wednesday post-practice media session in an Ohio State hoodie.

It was the result of a bet lost with teammates and Buckeyes alumni in linebacker Jerome Baker and cornerback Eli Apple. Ohio State just defeated Tagovailoa’s brother’s team, Maryland, Saturday.

“This is painful,” Tagovailoa said, lightheartedly.

He was told it wasn’t the best bet, considering the heavy underdogs that the Terrapins were and how he holds his media sessions at a podium while other players are in the locker room.

“Sometimes, that’s how you win your team over, guys,” he quipped.