Gesicki Sticks Up for Tua

Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki made social media headlines Wednesday afternoon with his spirited defense and endorsement of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and there's an aspect to this story that can't be overstated.

Gesicki, you may remember, was a vocal fan of former Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose departure came as a result of Tagovailoa taking over as the team's starter. In fact, before Tua took over, Gesicki called Fitzpatrick his "greatest teammate" ever.

So maybe that fact make Gesicki's comments stand out even more.

After talking about how Tua looks more confident as he prepares for his second NFL season, Gesicki was asked about the quarterback's poise and how he never seems rattled.

"I think if you look at his past career dating all the way back to college, I think he’s been put in big positions and made plays," Gesicki said. "He’s dealt with adversity, whether it’s injury or whatever it may be, fought back from that.

"He’s also dealt with people saying stupid, uneducated stuff about him that they’re not right about. So he’s dealing with that and he’s continuing to work and continuing come in here each and every day and I’m happy that he’s our quarterback."

RELATED: Tua Thoughts: QB Talks About Comfort Level, the Hip, the Next Step and More

Gesicki was asked what bothers him most about the criticism directed at Tua.

"The problem with the criticism is there’s nothing behind it," Gesicki said. "The kid came in here and people were already calling for him. He played nine games and he did a lot of really good things for us, stepped up in big situations, made plays and I think got better each and every week and now everybody’s talking about his confidence and how he looks this year. Obviously we’ve had a couple of walk-throughs and all kind of stuff. It still looks good. He’s been working hard and investing a lot of time into this season, so I’m excited for his future."

Gesicki had six touchdown catches in 2020, three from Fitzpatrick and three from Tagovailoa. His two best games of the season in terms of yardage came with Fitzpatrick as the starter, though he had an 88-yard outing against the Cincinnati Bengals in December.

If Tagovailoa is to take the next step in 2021, it figures that Gesicki will play a key role.

The fourth-year tight end is expecting that improvement from his quarterback, in part because of his ability to deal with or ignore outside noise.

"I think he’s dealt great with it," Gesicki said. "I think it goes back to like I said, he’s been through adversity before. He’s played in the biggest games dating back to his college career and I think he’s just going to continue to focus on what’s important and the opinions that are important because at the end of the day, that’s really all that matters is people inside this building and the guys upstairs and the guys in the locker room. And I can tell you that first-hand, the guys in the locker room, we all believe in him, we all respect him and we’re all excited about him."