Another Step for Tua Scrutiny

The media was back at the Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University on Monday for the first day of practice in pads this summer.

The number of reporters was considerably smaller than at previous training camp practices because of the COVID-related restrictions.

Something else that was different was the singular focus on one particular player, that of course being quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

The fascination with all things Tua is completely evident for anyone who has paid any attention to the Miami Dolphins, and to some degree understandable.

Veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy clearly understands it, which is why he was prepared for an obligatory question during his Zoom media session about what it was like to face Tagovailoa in practice.

Van Noy was having none of it.

"I knew it was coming," Van Noy said. "I'm not going to answer that one. You get to ask me Kyle Van Noy questions and defense questions."

Can totally get where Van Noy is coming from here.

Tua is NOT the Miami Dolphins. Barring something unexpected, he's also not going to be their starting quarterback at the start of the 2020 season.

Van Noy, and we can imagine other players on the team, don't want to be asked an obligatory Tua question every time they talk to the media.

Center Ted Karras also was asked about Tua, though that question is more relevant because of their working relationship on offense.

"He’s a very impressive young man," Karras said. "I don’t have too many nuggets for him, but I’ll help him out when he needs it, which is not often. It’s fun to work with all of the guys so far in this offense. It’s coming together and obviously we have a long way to go, but we’re getting there one day at a time.”

Coach Brian Flores naturally was asked about Tua before practice Monday, and naturally he was reserved in his comments.

“We’ll take it one day at a time," Flores said. "He’ll be out there today along with the rest of the quarterbacks and the majority of the players on the team. He’s looked healthy in the OTAs and walk-through type practices. This will be the first one in pads. Yeah, he’s looked healthy. We’re taking this one day at a time with Tua, as we are with every player, and hoping that he improves on a daily basis. Like any rookie, he needs the snaps and he needs the reps to improve and get better and give himself a chance.”

So, yeah, Flores continues to try to temper expectations, which has worked from a media standpoint.

But control the fascination? Good luck with that one.

So, because it has to be done, this is how Tua looked on this first day of practice in pads: He looked fine.

He was accurate in warmups and individual, he moved well when he rolled out, but his work in team drills was mostly confined to handing off. He attempted two passes during those 11-on-11 sessions and completed them both, though both were short — a hook-up with new tight end Nate Wieting after he rolled out and a swing pass.

In other words, there was nothing overly significant about anything that happened with Tua on this day.

Except it's Tua. And it was his first practice in front of the media.

So, in that sense, sure, it was a big deal.

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