Tua Talks Weather, Rhythm and Learning Lessons

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wants to make sure to get into a rhythm early when the Miami Dolphins face the Buffalo Bills on Saturday
Tua Talks Weather, Rhythm and Learning Lessons
Tua Talks Weather, Rhythm and Learning Lessons /
In this story:

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's weekly media session Wednesday had a different tone than it has for most of the season, which is understandable given his recent struggles in California and his past struggles in bad weather.

To get back to the kind of groove he has displayed most of the 2022 regular season, Tagovailoa wants to learn from the mistakes in the games against the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers, but when it comes to dealing with the potential bad weather — cold and snow — in Buffalo on Saturday night, he believes the best course of action is simply not to think about it.

Here were the comments from his media session Wednesday that stood out pertaining to those issues:

TUA AND DEALING WITH COLD WEATHER

Head Coach Mike McDaniel said he’s not paying too much attention to the weather. Obviously you’re prepared for whatever may occur. But as a quarterback, what are you trying to be mindful of, especially with what the forecast could be for Saturday night?

“I think for me, it’s understanding that it could be many things. It could be snowing. It could rain. I don’t know. I think for me at least, I can speak for myself, it’s a mindset thing. And if I’m too focused and worried about if it’s too cold, can I grab the ball, can I not, then I would say I’m focused on the wrong things. It would be hard to play that way going over there against a really good team.”

What can you take away from your previous experiences in cold weather games?

“Well, I would say one, not necessarily being too focused on that. That was sort of the case the past couple of years. Just worrying about the right things.”

Did you tell us back in the spring you actually went to a cold weather location?

“Yeah.”

Can you tell us the story about that?

“Yeah, I went to Maryland to go visit my brother after the season, and it was pretty cold up there. It was probably in the 20s and there was snow on the ground, too. So I got to test that out. I got to throw up there with a couple of his guys. That was good.”

What did you learn from that experience?

“I think – I mean me personally, it might be a mindset thing too but it felt really good throwing it while it was snowing. I don’t know. I can’t give anything more than that. I didn’t feel any effects of throwing in the snow.”

Have you seen snow before?

“Yeah. It snowed in Alabama my first year. It snows in Alabama guys. (laughter) People don’t know that. Some people just think it gets cold but it does snow. (laughter)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

TUA AND THE PASSING GAME GETTING BACK ON TRACK

Some of the football analysts were breaking down the film on TV, and they said that the Chargers, for example, used inside leverage and sticky coverage with deep safety help to take away the middle of the field and limit your favorite throws. What is the way to defeat that?

“Well, I think first just coming out the gate is just getting completions, finding the rhythm of the game for the guys up front, for the receivers, for myself and not just always wanting to take deep shots, essentially, even when it’s not there. So I would say regardless of the coverages, I think we have good enough or more than good enough players to account for whatever routes they have, and me being the distributor, I’ve got to give them those opportunities.”

What do you want to work on as far as if you come out in the game and maybe the first drive or two the completions aren’t there, but having a “short memory” and coming back out and sort of remaining settled for the rest of the team?

“I would say it was a good lesson last week for all of us. We look at the tape, and the cool thing is there’s no like, ‘it’s your fault. It’s your fault.’ It’s all everyone kind of holding themselves accountable, like, ‘Oh, no. This is my fault on this play.’ And then guys would be like, ‘No, no, no. It’s not your fault. It’s my fault.’ I think that’s a step in the right direction for us as a team, but the next play mentality definitely needs to show itself more evident for us with the way we play offensively. Because of the success that we found early in the year, we really haven’t been given that opportunity. And so kind of given the two losses that we had to endure, that’s an opportunity for us to kind of continue to preach that and work through that throughout these practices and leading up to the game.”

I know a lot of the narrative coming into this year was about you pushing the ball down the field. You guys have done that well. You just mentioned taking the easy throws. Can you take me through maybe what that balance is between wanting to push it down but also maybe hitting the back in the flat?

“Yeah, I would say just with what the progression of the play gives us a lot of the times is we’re not trying to chase these deep throws, but they’re always within our progression. So that’s really essentially what it is. We’re kind of seeing two routes as one if it’s a deep play and then checking it down. But a lot of the times, this year when we found success, the first read on a deep route would be open. So essentially, we never needed to check it down a lot this year. It’s good lessons that we’re learning now in the season, getting into the grind time of the schedule. It’ll be good to just continue to fall back and resort to the things that we’ve been taught to play the position, which is take what the defense gives you.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.


Published
Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.