Tua draws more praise, some skepticism from national pundits. Dolphins coaches weigh in

You turn on your TV and you’re likely to see someone trying to sell you car insurance. Or talking about Tua Tagovailoa.

Even after producing a 104.4 passer rating in Sunday’s win against New England, Tagovailoa elicited a mix of reaction — praise from ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky; apparent skepticism from Sean Payton; measured analysis from Ryan Fitzpatrick; mocking, sarcastic approval of Keyshawn Johnson and questions from Kurt Warner.

“I have seen some of it,” quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell said Thursday of the national 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 said Tagovailoa handles the constant 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, asked about Tagovailoa on Pardon My Take, offered a reasonable analysis:

“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 former NFL receiver — gave a lukewarm reaction to Tagovailoa’s first game, calling it merely “fine” - neither “great” nor awful - and playfully mocking Orlovsky for his support of Tagovailoa, asking if he’s supposed to be a cheerleader for him.

And former Saints coach Payton said he expects Teddy Bridgewater to end up playing some for the Dolphins this season for reasons that have nothing to do with an injury.

“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 said on Twitter that Tagovailoa’s mechanics were off in preseason, especially on deep throws.

Tagovailoa, meanwhile, addressed several issues this week:

▪ He likes to avoid sacks; he took only 19 last season behind a poor offensive line. He was sacked three times on Sunday and narrowly avoided a couple of others by throwing the ball away, sometimes awkwardly.

How does he balance whether to throw the ball away or take a sack?

“Yeah, I would say it’s hard as a quarterback,” he said. “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 said 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 mentioned his height (6-1) as a reason why it’s even more important to establish timing with receivers.

“I’m not the biggest guy out there,” he said. “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.”

ARMSTEAD BACK

Terron Armstead (toe), Cedrick Wilson Jr. (toe) and Salvon Ahmed (heel) were back at practice on Thursday.

But Austin Jackson (ankle) remains out, putting his status for Sunday’s game in Baltimore very much in question.