Tua Seemingly Undergoing Another Body Metamorphosis

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa seemingly has slimmed down his frame, and is sporting a second arm sleeve tattoo

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Min Woo Lee celebrate a shot during the pro-am of the / Jeff Romance / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tua Tagovailoa 3.0 seems to be loading.

Last offseason Tagovailoa’s body underwent a metamorphosis as the Miami Dolphins quarterback added weight and mscle to his frame to better withstand the hits that produced concussions in 2022.

The former Alabama standout, who led the NFL in passing yards (4,624) last season and passer rating (105.1) in 2022, also added a tribal arm sleeve that goes from his right shoulder to his hand, which pays homage to his Polynesian [Somoan] culture.

A video, and recent picture of Tagovailoa attending a golf event in Hawaii revealed that the AFC’s 2023 Pro Bowl starter has apparently lost some weight, slimming down his frame, and is now sporting another tattoo on his left arm and shoulder area, which looks like the start of a second sleeve.

"It's something that falls off a piece that I had earlier this year," Tagovailoa said last year, addressing the left arm sleeve. "It's a piece that represents my first child. There's a lot of things that go on behind it, a lot of cultural significance, a lot of things that have to do with protection, guidance, sort of things like that that we believe in the Samoan culture, so that's what it is.

"And then we implemented this piece (on the left wrist) that I already had with this, so it's almost like when you pray you take it off. It kind of has the sense of you're taking part of the tribal out of this side."

It’s possible that the tattoo is being done by the same artist because Tagovailoa’s right arm was done by an artist in Hawaii, which is where he was raised.

According to Tagovailoa’s trainer Nick Hicks, Co-Owner and Director of Performance at Per4orm, slimming down so he could enhance his mobility is one of the four areas of growth Tagovailoa is focused on.

The goal is supposedly to improve his mobility, potentially adding a scrambling element to his game.

Last year Tagovailoa was mocked for being “thick” by ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, and it created quite a social media stir, especially when Tagovailoa issued Clark a warning before telling him to “keep my name out your mouth.”

"I come from a Samoan family; respect is everything. But, you know, it does get to a point where, hey, [take it] a little easy on that, buddy, because I think we're pretty tough-minded people and if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy,” said Tagovailoa, who intentionally added 10 pounds of muscle in the 2023 offseason through weight training to help him survive a 17-game NFL season.

Tagovailoa, who owns a 32-19 win-loss record as a starter, wouldn’t clarify what else he planned to work on, but it has been revealed that he’s spend some time with 3DQB, a quarterback training program that works on body mechanics for many of the nation’s top prep, collegiate, draft-eligible and professional quarterbacks.

When Tagovailoa will work with the 3DQB team, which is led by Tom House and features former Dolphins quarterback John Beck, a second-round pick in 2007, hasn’t been clarified.