Coaches Dissect Tua Debut

Tua Tagovailoa's first NFL start didn't produce anywhere near the kind of passing stats he customarily put up at the University of Alabama, but his Miami Dolphins offensive coaches saw encouraging signs nonetheless.

“He made some good reads," offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said Tuesday morning. "He did some good things as far as understanding what we’re trying to get done run-game-wise. Everybody thinks it’s just pass game, but he understands what we’re trying to get done with the run game.

"He needs reps. He’s just gotta keep working timing with these guys and keep getting reps. Those reps that he got the other day were invaluable and I think he’ll start to get better in bigger jumps as we go forward because the more he sees, the more he understands, the more feel he gets with the receivers, I think he’ll get better and better. He just needs to play. He’s got a lot of talent. I’m anxious to see what steps he’s going to take this week.”

In his first start since November 16 of last year when he sustained that major hip injury against Mississippi State, Tagovailoa completed 12 of 22 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.

The Dolphins didn't need more production from Tagovailoa and the offense because the defense and special teams each scored a touchdown and two takeaways set up the other two touchdowns.

The Dolphins scored 21 points in the second quarter despite gaining only 9 yards of offense on their way to a 28-10 halftime lead.

The big lead, combined with respect for Aaron Donald and the Rams pass rush, led to a conservative game plan, according to Gailey.

We knew how good their pass rush was," Gailey said. "We were trying to get him protected and get the ball out. And because of the way the game went, we didn’t have to take a lot of chances with the football. We hope to be able to do things in the future that create more big plays for our offense. Obviously Tua is very talented in throwing the football. Hopefully we’ll make those things happen.”

Tagovailoa's second start will come this weekend against the Arizona Cardinals, who will be coming off their bye following their thrilling Sunday night overtime victory against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Dolphins coaches understand full well they'll need more production at some point this season, quite possibly as early as this weekend.

"I think I was encouraged, he did some good things communication wise," quarterbacks coach Robby Brown said. "I thought he was calm. I thought the coach-to-QB communication, we do that stuff in practice, but it's different doing it in the game. I thought all of that stuff went well. It wasn't 100 percent smooth. We had some stuff where he said, 'Hey I like this, I don't like this,' during the week. I thought he communicated well what he needed.

"I would say that Tua's got a good grasp of what we're trying to do. He studies hard at it. He has been studying hard at it since the virtual OTA. It was a unique game on Sunday. It was unique ways that we scored. Unique way the game started. All that kind of stuff. I think he's getting a grasp, he's continuing to get a grasp."

The game began as poorly as possible for the Dolphins offense, with Tagovailoa stripped by Donald on his first pass attempt — and then taking a shot right after for good measure.

But it turned out to be the only turnover for the Dolphins offense. On a day dominated by the Miami defense, that pretty much all that was needed from Tagovailoa.

"He has an incredible personality," Brown said. "He's loose. So when those kind of things happen, my initial reaction is, it doesn't matter who the quarterback is, it doesn't matter if I'm coaching in college or wherever I was coaching, my initial reaction was, 'Hey, let's get over to the sideline, let's sit down.' I never want to overreact or jump up. My 4-year-old could look at it and say, 'Oooh, that's not good.' You don't say that. You sit down, 'Hey, what did you see?' He tells you what he saw. He saw it well. He knew what happened.

"Then you move on, you don't focus on it. The defensive guys, and the offensive guys, were saying 'Hey, let's shake it off. We've got you.' I think the main thing there is not to overreact and he's not an overreactor. He's been in big collegiate games, obviously. This is a different atmosphere, but he didn't overreact. Nobody overreacted. 'Hey, let's go play ball. That stuff happens.' "

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