After three consecutive wins, COVID-19 might be only thing that can derail Tua Train
Tua Tagovailoa learned the hard way this week what happens when people in sports embrace debate.
Blogs and sports talk shows picked up on his remarks to Pro Football Talk, in which he said that he “expected [the NFL] to be a lot harder.”
But context got lost in the soundbite.
He wasn’t trying to suggest he had the NFL figured out already. Rather, he was explaining that the exotic defensive looks he expected to get as a rookie quarterback had yet to materialize. Plus Tagovailoa was trying to praise the job his coaching staff has done in preparing him.
“I think that was probably taken out of context because after I said that, there was like another paragraph that I said after that,” Tagovailoa clarified to local reporters Wednesday. “I still have a long ways to go. There’s a lot of things that I need to learn. By [no] means did I mean that the NFL was easy. Because it’s hard. It’s difficult to score, it’s difficult to move the ball against these guys. But from what I originally expected it was going to be, as far as the difficulty, it wasn’t as I expected, is what I’m trying to say.”
Tagovailoa isn’t a boastful guy by nature. He doesn’t need to be. The hype generates itself with his play and his moxie.
And that hype will only accelerate with each week. Tagovailoa has already made the Dolphins a national curiosity with three wins in three starts. Sunday in Denver, Tagovailoa will try to become the just the second quarterback in 40 years to win his first four starts.
And unlike a lot of first-round picks early in their careers, he hasn’t been asked to do more than he can handle.
“I think coach [Brian Flores] alleviates all of that,” Tagovailoa said. “He tells all of us rookies, all of us players in general, just come out and perform to the best of our abilities. That’s all they ask of us. I think for me, I put pressure on myself to get the guys going and hopefully try to do good with what I need to, to help our team become successful. But other than that, there’s really no pressure.
“I just think everyone on this team — offense, defense and in the special teams — we just all want to do good. And we fight for one another out there on the field and we play as a family and we play for one another as well. So I think that alleviates all the pressure and all the outside talk.”
None of this matters though, if COVID-19 wrecks the season.
The NFL on Wednesday notified teams that they all must adhere to the intensive protocols the rest of the season after the pandemic enters its winter wave. The virus is everywhere in America — NFL locker rooms included.
In an attempt to save its season, the NFL is requiring teams meet remotely and that masks be work by all personnel, even on the practice field.
This isn’t exactly a new dynamic for the Dolphins. They already put in place those enhanced protocols after an unidentified assistant coach tested positive nearly two weeks ago.
Still, the NFL’s change in policy reflects a growing concern that a 17-week, 256-game season might be impossible.
“I definitely think that that’s going to be a big change for everyone in how we prepare,” Tagovailoa said. “Not being able to hopefully walk-through plays before practice and what-not due to the times that we’re meeting and the times we’ve got to drive over to the facility. But as far as us finishing the season, with all of that, I’m not going to speculate anything. That’s I would say beyond what I’m getting paid to do here.”
He’s getting paid to complete passes and win games. So far, so good. Tagovailoa has completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 519 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions as a pro.
If there is a criticism you can make about his game, it’s this: He still hasn’t gotten synced up with DeVante Parker, the Dolphins’ No. 1 receiver. Parker was a 1,200-yard receiver last year, but is on pace to fall far short of that. And it doesn’t help that he’s only been targeted 16 times in Tagovailoa’s four NFL appearances.
“We spend a little time during practice, when we’re not up, get passes on the side, get the timing good,” Parker said Wednesday. “We’ve just got to bring that over to the games.”
