Tua Focused On Shedding Fragile Label

In a lighthearted moment that took place during a post-practice press conference, Terron Armstead, who boxes as part of his offseason training, was asked who would win if a fight between the offensive lineman and his jiu-jitsu-learning quarterback ever took place.

“I’d whoop Tua,” Armstead said, referring to Tua Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback, who his main duty is to protect.

Tagovailoa also gave the edge to his Pro Bowl left tackle, saying, “I give respect to the O.G.”

When Armstead, who recently was taken off the PUP list following a right knee scope he had done this offseason, and Tagovailoa were in the lineup together in 2022, the Dolphins featured one of the hottest offenses in the NFL.

Ensuring that both are healthy for 17 games in 2023 has been one of the organization’s top priorities, and each veteran has gone the extra mile to ensure that their availability doesn’t make them a Dolphins liability.

Tua's Offseason Goals Were Achieved

“Everything that I did this offseason entailed what would keep me on the field for the entirety of the season,” Tagovailoa said Tuesday, going over his weight gain, where he added 10 pounds of muscle to help him survive brutal hits better, and his jiu-jitsu training, which is supposed to help Tagovailoa learn how to fall more efficiently.

However, Tagovailoa is not willing to say jiu-jitsu and the addition of muscle mass will instantly make him a durable quarterback. In fact, in a moment of honesty, which he has often, Tagovailoa admitted he’s not certain the jiu-jitsu training will pay off at all in the 2023 season.

“It’s not to where it’s something that’s muscle memory yet for me and I don’t think that’ll be something that becomes muscle memory unless I do it for like a year or two years,” said Tagovailoa, who suffered at least two concussions last season, one from his head hitting the turf in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and the second in a loss to Green Bay on Christmas Day, a game where he didn’t take a brutal hit.

Tua Plans to Use NFL's New Helmet

The NFL approved a new, quarterback-specific helmet for the 2023 season that is supposed to offer greater protection from head injuries.

Tagovailoa tried the The Zero2 Matrix QB helmet, which is made by made by VICIS, during OTAs and minicamp and wasn’t certain he’d use it. But on Tuesday, Tagovailoa committed to beginning the season with it.

“It was like a percentage better than the helmet that I had,” said Tagovailoa, who missed five games last season, including the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, because of the concussions. “So, you know, everything matters and so I’m going to play the percentage. So if you look at last year, it wasn’t really hitting my head. It was really just the ground.

“Freaky things can happen. You know, it’s football. It’s a physical sport. Not everything that you prepare for is what you’re going to get. So I did the best that I could to get myself ready and prepped for this season as far as injuries go.”

Having Armstead on the field, anchoring Miami’s protection, likely will give Tagovailoa his best chance to not only survive the regular season but be healthy for the playoffs.

“That’s not a secret. You need your best players to play and play their best. Especially when you’re getting down into the stretch into the playoffs,” Armstead said. “We’re going to need all our players to be playing our best football. So me, Tua, Tyreek (Hill), (Emmanuel) Ogbah, David Long (Jr.), Christian (Wilkins) — we’re going to need the best players to be the absolute best.”