The Miami Dolphins are hoping for a resurgence with Tua Tagovailoa under center.
The third-year quarterback had a winning record in each of his first two seasons (6-3, 7-5) despite some internal issues. There's something different about him this summer, and it’s not just that he has wide receiver Tyreek Hill to throw to.
Brendan Tobin and Alejandro Solana talked about what they're seeing from Tagovailoa in training camp on Audacy’s “The Porpoise Pod” podcast.
“A lot’s been made of the relationship from him and Mike McDaniel,” Tobin said (00:44 in player above). “He’s definitely a guy that is carrying himself with more bravado, more confidence that is coming from the Dolphins quarterback. Definitely feels more empowered this year. Doesn’t feel like he’s trying to be replaced every single week. And that’s a great thing to see. He definitely feels like a guy who knows that it’s a big year ahead of him but feels that he has the tools and support at hand to make it happen.”
There reportedly were internal communication issues between former coach Brian Flores and the young quarterback. New head coach Mike McDaniel quickly squashed any potential issues by throwing his full support behind Tagovailoa.
“He’s less afraid to speak his mind on things as well,” Solana replied, saying that he’s not the same guy that had the shadows from Alabama following him. “I guess a lot of people use the expression ‘broken out of his shell’ and I think he has. He’s realized he has a voice. He has a powerful voice. He’s somebody who can move the needle on things. He’s realizing that now.”
Tua was asked about what feels different this summer and listed off a variety of things relating to the feel of the team and confidence. He wouldn’t necessarily point to one thing, but his answer was very telling.
“He says he can’t point it out to one thing, but if he really wanted to, he could just sum it up in ‘Brian Flores,’” Tobin said. “Because if you’re going to talk about the way you work, the way everybody is, their attitude, the way that just in general they’re going about their business. I mean he doesn’t do that because he’s a sweetheart, but if he wanted to he could just say the head coach is different.”
“‘Tell us you hate Brian Flores without telling us you hate Brian Flores’ is essentially what happened there,” Solana laughed.
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