Thinking about buying a Tua Tagovailoa shirt No. 1 from the Miami Dolphins to match the Alabama shirt 13 from the quarterback era with the Crimson Tide?
You may want to see what happens to Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson first.
Tagovailoa made stops on Super Bowl Week radio on Monday, and during one of his appearances, the namesake of “The Dan Patrick Show” asked if he should buy a Tagovailoa shirt now or wait until August.
“Honestly, I’m not really sure,” said Tagovailoa.
Watson wants to leave Houston, and that report brought an avalanche of stories describing the most likely commercial destinations for the three-time Pro Bowl defender. The Dolphins and New York Jets seemed to be popular choices.
“This is something I cannot control,” said Tagovailoa of commercial speculation. “I have no control over these trade deals and whatnot. But for me, my job is to help our team win games and help our attack contribute to the team’s success. “
The Dolphins added Tagovailoa with the fifth choice in the 2020 NFL Draft. After six games as a reserve for Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tagovailoa moved on to the starting lineup.
“In my mind and in my heart, I would like to hope so,” Tagovailoa said when asked during an appearance on Mad Dog Sports Radio on “Schein on Sports” whether he thought the Dolphins saw him as his “franchise quarterback” . “But for me, the way things went last year, you always have to prove that you can do better, and I want to do better. My job is to help our team win games. For me, this is what I must do a better job with. For me, when I was there, we lost some. “
Miami had a 6-3 record in games started by Tagovailoa on his way to an overall record of 10-6 – doubling his winning total in 2019. Fitzpatrick entered the fourth quarter to get a 26-25 win over Las Vegas Raiders in the penultimate game of the season. In the end, Miami needed a win to reach the playoffs, but lost 56-26 to Buffalo Bills.
Tagovailoa completed 186 of 290 passes for 1,814 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also ran 109 yards and three touchdowns in 36 races.
Tagovailoa described his debut season as “below average”.
“I have very high expectations for myself,” said Tagovailoa, “and I did not meet those expectations last year.”
Before Watson hit the market, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said Tagovailoa shouldn’t be concerned that his rookie performance could affect Miami’s plans for him.
“We are very happy with Tua,” said Grier during the season-ending press conference. “He is our starting quarterback. He did a good job this year arriving as a rookie, with no offseason and the challenges of handling it all. I am very happy with him and looking forward to seeing him progress with an offseason here next year. “
Tagovailoa played in 2020, although his 2019 season ended when he suffered a hip dislocation and posterior wall fracture in an SEC game against the State of Mississippi. The quarterback said “there is a big difference” between his health at the start of the 2020 NFL season and how he feels now.
“The past off season was really a year of rehabilitation last year,” said Tagovailoa. “But this year, I would say that my health has improved a little. But it is not something that you feel good about and just stop working on mobility and whatnot. It is an ongoing process for me. “
In his two seasons as Alabama’s full-back, Tagovailoa shot for 6,806 yards with 76 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 24 games. The quarterback said he reached the scrimmage line “just over 50 percent” of the time knowing that Tide was about to score a touchdown – and that without the surprises provided by wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle.
“Sometimes, with the short passes, I just thought it would be at least a decent catch and run,” said Tagovailoa, “but most of the time, I would put the ball in the hands of Jerry, DeVonta or Jaylen, and a small catch 2-yard run would turn into a 72-yard touchdown. “
Smith is heading to the NFL this year after a record-breaking career that earned him the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Prize and Walter Camp Prize as a consensus Player of the Year for college football for the 2020 season.
The Dolphins have the third selection in the NFL’s 2021 Draft, and Tagovailoa is fine with Miami using it on Smith.
DOLPHIN COACH WON’T ‘NITPICK’ HAS SMITH’S SIZE
“Whenever I can meet with a former Alabama teammate,” said Tagovailoa, “it would be very special because of the chemistry that we already have and the impact that I know they could have on helping our teams. DeVonta and I had some conversations. That would be very exciting. “
Tagovailoa used radio interviews to promote his participation at Verizon 5G Stadium in Fortnite Creative. At 6pm CST on Tuesday, Tagovailoa will be part of a live competition, which will be available on Twitch and Verizon Twitter account.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @ AMarkG1.
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