The Trouble with the Tua Mandate

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier sent a strong message to QB Tua Tagovailoa

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) on the field before the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Chris Grier's message to Tua Tagovailoa during the Miami Dolphins GM's end-of-season press conference with head coach Mike McDaniel sure sounded good and made a lot of sense on the surface.

Tagovailoa needs to be available and he needs to protect himself. And taking chances and not being available is unacceptable to the organization.

Cool.

And certainly logical after Tagovailoa missed six starts in the 2024 regular season, the Dolphins went 2-4 in his absence with usually substandard backup quarterback play, and missed the playoffs by two games.

Here were Grier's exact words when asked to evaluate Tagovailoa's first season after the Dolphins signed him to a huge contract extension: “For me, it was good to see his growth as a player when he was playing. I would say that the one thing that has come out of this, even this year, was the leadership part. All the players were talking about his leadership and the step he’s taken. A couple of our free agents that came in said that he’s one of the best leaders they’ve been around for a quarterback. To see where he’s come from, from his early time here was impressive.

"That being said, he needs to be available. He needs to know how to protect himself. You’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control. He understands that. Not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us, and he knows that.”

WHY SHOULD WE EXPECT TUA TO CHANGE?

It didn't take Grier to say that Tua needs to avoid taking unnecessary risks for the quarterback to know this, at least that's what we should believe based on Tua's own comments a few weeks back.

This is what Tagovailoa said before the Dec. 8 game against the New York Jets when asked how surprised he was that the Dolphins were sitting at 5-7: "Nobody else will say it but me and I feel like this has a lot to do with myself, obviously, putting myself in harm's way in the second game going down, basically leaving my guys out to dry that. That's what I would say. And anyone can have an opinion about like, it's football, it's this, it's that; I do take take heart to that as well, and still don't want to do that to my guys again."

Again, the right words were said.

Except ...

In the second game after he made those comments, oops, Tua did it again (sorry, had to do it). He scrambled out of the pocket against the Houston Texans and dove forward, resulting in him taking a shot on the right hip, likely the hit that resulted in the injury that cost him the final two games of the regular season.

That play came on a third-and-7 in Houston territory and Tua was stopped a yard short of the first down but was nullified by a holding penalty on guard Robert Jones, and the Dolphins eventually kicked a field goal to tie the score 3-3.

With 11:35 left in the second quarter.

So this wasn't a crucial make-or-break play, or even a fourth-down scramble like the one against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2 — when the Dolphins were down 31-10 late in the third quarter.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about either play beyond a quarterback trying to make something happen.

But if Tagovailoa decided to lean into Damar Hamlin in Week 2, go down to try to tackle Los Angeles Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom after throwing a pick in the Monday night game at SoFi Stadium, and then declined to slide against Houston knowing full well his injury history, how exactly are we supposed to believe that NOW he'll start being more careful?

THE ONE TIME TUA DIDN'T TAKE MANY RISKS

Maybe the answer gets back to 2023 when Tagovailoa did a much better job of avoiding those unnecessary risks and was quicker to throw the ball away or give himself up before contact.

What changed?

One thing is that Tagovailoa wasn't nearly as mobile in 2023 when he was carrying extra weight and that made it harder for him to pick up yardage on scrambles. So he wasn't as quick to get out of the pocket and sometimes simply threw the ball out of bounds.

Did Tagovailoa getting a big contract extension last summer make him more careless because he's no longer potentially jeopardizing that life-changing deal?

Regardless, the Dolphins obviously need Tagovailoa to not be as reckless as he was in 2024 because he simply doesn't have the kind of build that allows him to take on defenders the same way as most quarterbacks can.

That's just a fact of life.

It's also a fact that you can try to minimize risks all you want, but quarterbacks are going to get hit. And the Dolphins are in a tough spot if they have to hold their collective breath every time Tagovailoa gets sacked.

This is where, of course, fans and some media members will point to the need of building a fortress around him with five All-Pro offensive linemen, which also is unrealistic.

It's also absurd to suggest the Dolphins threw so many screen passes this season because the pass protection didn't give Tagovailoa the time to look downfield.

The offensive line wasn't great, maybe wasn't even good or average. But it wasn't the worst in the NFL and it wasn't nearly as porous as some would suggest.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN 2025?

Back to Tagovailoa and Grier's comments, how is the GM going to react the first time in 2025 that Tagovailoa takes on a defender?

Remind him that it's unacceptable?

And, by the way, was it acceptable this season?

Of course not.

The only hope here is that Tagovailoa is more like the 2023 version than the 2024 version when it comes to protecting himself, while understanding there will be some yards left on the field with that approach.

And then the Dolphins obviously need to do a better job of protecting themselves if something does happen to Tagovailoa by way of bringing in a veteran with some sort of proven track record as opposed to a young player whose best asset is the organization's familiarity with him.

This isn't anything the Dolphins shouldn't have known from the start.

Tagovailoa came into the NFL with major durability questions, so the fact he's now missed 15 starts because of injuries with only one season starting every game should surprise no one. It was the 2023 season that was the outlier, not the others.

Since the Dolphins selected Tagovailoa — fifth overall, mind you — despite those durability concerns, it's on them to make sure, and double down and triple down to protect themselves against a Tua injury.

Yes, it would be nice if Tagovailoa did his part to limit his exposure, but you can't praise a quarterback's competitiveness and leadership qualities and then be upset when he goes the extra mile to try to help the team win.

There's nothing with the message Grier sent Tagovailoa via the media Tuesday, but the Dolphins have to be prepared for the possibility (if not probability) that the competitive juices will make that message forgotten at times.