Flores addresses what appealed to Dolphins about Tua and importance of his workout video
When former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa participated in a virtual pro day in Nashville earlier this month and shipped the footage off to all 32 NFL teams, some wondered the significance.
As it turned out, it was one of several important pieces in the Dolphins’ decision to draft him six months after major hip surgery.
Asked Monday by NBC’s Mike Tirico how important that workout video was in the Dolphins’ decision, coach Brian Flores said:
“It was important,” Flores said on Tirico’s weekday program on NBC-SN. “It came out — Chris [Grier] sent it to me and we were watching it at the same time.
“Got on the phone right after that and said it looked pretty good. It kind of reinforced and confirmed some of the things our doctors had mentioned to us. It was important. It was good to see it.
“That nine minutes is very different from having a two-hour, two-and-a-half-hour practice or playing the game. But I thought he looked good from where he was when he initially got the injury and where he was at that point.”
According to NFL Network, Tagovailoa participated in that one-hour workout on April 9. It featured 55 scripted throws and another 20 throws in a dynamic drill setting at a local private gym
Flores said the Dolphins became comfortable with Tagovailoa’s medical status — comfortable enough to draft him — during the past two weeks.
“We did a lot of work,” Flores said. “Our medical staff headed up by Kyle Johnson, our head trainer. Dr. [John] Uribe did a wonderful job getting us the information. We got comfortable in the last couple weeks. He’s a very talented player.”
What appealed to Miami about Tagovailoa?
“He’s got a lot of the qualities we’re looking for in the quarterback position,” Flores said. “He’s a leader. He’s accurate. He’s tough. We felt very comfortable” selecting him.
Flores was noncommittal when asked the plan for Tagovailoa as a rookie.
“The plan like all rookies is they’ve got so much to learn,” Flores said. “They’ve got to learn new terminology, get to get to know all the other players on the team, their fellow rookies...
“There’s a lot that goes into that first year as a rookie as well as obviously going out there and playing. We try to take it one day at a time. You don’t just go in there and be ready to go.”
VIRTUAL SESSIONS BEGIN
The Dolphins convened their players — except rookies — for the first time this offseason at 1 p.m. on Monday. The offseason sessions — conducted through video conferencing — will include classroom work and reportedly, a physical component.
Rookies will participate in those meetings beginning May 11.
Twenty teams began those offseason sessions on Monday. NFL teams are not permitted to hold any offseason programs at their facilities because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Flores said the Dolphins coaches conducted a run-through last week.
“We’ve worked extremely hard since they closed the facilities to find a way to teach the players through this technology and install that basic information, what we’re going to install in the next three weeks,” he said. “Our coaches are ready to go.
“We had a run through last week where I had my [full] squad meetings, then we went special teams, then we went to offense and defense, then we went to position meetings. We had our practice run. We got all the kinks out and we’re ready to go.”
Flores said “the most important thing is for us to do a good job in the virtual meetings and lay a foundation from basic information... terminology... basic fundamentals and technique and try to get better [within the] circumstances we have now. That’s all you can do.”
A WORD ON LAST SEASON
Flores said last year’s 5-11 team, which exceeded all expectations, “was a special group to me, a hard working group. There was a lot of adversity early in the season. Nobody placed blame or pointed fingers or made excuses. I had a lot of respect for players on that team.
“Some of the momentum and energy from that season hopefully we can bring into this year. We have a lot of new faces on this team.”
Please check back later for two more Dolphins pieces.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 1:01 PM.
