Tua Wasn't Comfortable Last Year

[Yoodakine56]

The "is TT good enough?" storm has 2 origins. One is valid and one is bogus.

The valid one is what Tua admitted to on film. He wasn't fully up to speed and playing from a limited playbook with no preseason and a healing body. He wasn't comfortable. That's mainly on him (though he couldn't have controlled the recovery part any better).

The bogus origin of controversy is his being handed the start and his subsequent benching.

Think about it. How many FOs would hand the keys to their rookie after what, 6 games when:
1) the starting QB is a vet playing a career season and fans love him
2) the team is finally winning games, playing well
3) the starting QB knows the OC's playbook inside out.
4) the rookie is coming off a career-threatening injury
5) the rookie had no preseason due to covid and limited access even to the facility
6) the playbook is new for the whole offense
7) there are 3 rookies on the offensive line and one new vet

Who does that? Who throws their rookie into that situation? Not many coaches, for sure.

But then, THEN, the coaches take another step down QB controversy lane and bench the rookie who went 6-3 in those horrifically challenging circumstances.

THEN, the vet QB throws the Braille Mary.

For chrissake, what more could have been done by the FO to the kid, to really forge the poor guy in flames??!

For that set of circumstances alone, i can't fathom why every fan isn't pulling for this kid and giving him all the benefit of the doubt in the world for this season coming. After that, sure let all bets be off. Unless of course the FO decides to cut one of his legs off to see how he copes with reduced mobility.

I totally see where youre coming from. Throwing the kid into the fire and he actually handled it pretty well, barring everything youve listed was against him.

 

[TannDaMan17]

Tua was bad last year, but I expect him to be 10X better this year. Glad Tua is able to be real about the situation, even though many Dolfans wanted to defend and pretend all off season he was decent last year, he simply was not good enough and NEEDS to improve expeditiously. Tua gets it.

 

[The Goat]

Well, the context was fairly obvious, regardless of Omar.

Yes, you can have your opinion, but if one is not willing to change opinion based on new information, it can become unfounded to the point of stubborness.

Just sayin.......

I genuinely don't know what you're referring to. What context?

If you're talking about the context from the confrontational gent who likes to passive-aggressively tell people how they can and cannot debate, I've grown tired of his antics and put him on ignore. You, I respect, and will happily discuss with you. The Arizona game isn't new information. Did Tua look great in that? Yes. Did he look less impressive in the following San Diego game, and then awful in the Denver game? Yes, he did.

Here's the thing about Tua's hip injury and subsequent recovery - we really don't have anywhere near the amount of data on recoveries from that sort of injury that we have on, say, ACLs. We know, for example, that some players can play the following year, but aren't quite what they were pre-injury until the following season. Did Tua push himself too hard, too fast in the Arizona game, and then his hip was recovering from the workload he put on it that day for the next few weeks?

I don't know. I'd be making **** up if I said I did. But here's the thing; neither does anyone else. Interestingly, Tua's not the only player on Miami who recently came back from a hip injury. Albert Wilson had a slight hip fracture and labrum tear in late October of 2018. This injury was nowhere near as significant as Tua's, but he wasn't nearly the same player in 2019 as he was in 2018 until the last few weeks of the season. Interestingly, once he started to produce more (in the Giants game) - he was limited in practice the following week because of...ready? Hip soreness.

My point is, I wondered late in the year if he was 100% up to speed. Again, there's a difference between 100% able to play when you're recovering from an injury and 100% recovered. So when the article listed LITERALLY references improvements he's made in his hip, and Tua LITERALLY says, "My hip feels 10 times better than it did last year. The confidence level for myself, I feel really confident coming into this second year after that injury two years ago"...I'm going to have a bit of an "Aha!" moment.

I posted the quote he made, (in which he wasn't even responding to Omar, for the benefit of those who clearly weren't paying attention), as a stand-alone post. Wasn't responding or retorting. So if someone replies with a completely nonsensical post about Omar...when Omar wasn't even involved in the quote I posted, and then tells me I can't have it both ways because of the Arizona game, he's going to get a fairly brusque retort.

 

[dolphinheel]

Tua is a class young man. He owned up to the fact that he didn't have mastery of the playbook--something very common for rookie QB's--so we had to dumb it down a bit last year. This year, he's on top of it. He made no excuses for the injury, although clearly it limited his velocity, reps, strength, and confidence. All of those should be improved. He admits he tried to throw with too much arm last year and this year he is able to incorporate his base, legs, core and not generate velocity just from his arm. All of these are good things and bode very well moving into year two.

Let's support our leader. He's clearly stepping up on the work side and he clearly is ready to give us improved performance. I'm excited to see where this leads in year two!

Also think as the leader he took ownership of his issues, but as this article said it’s also a dig on Gailey, who’s responsibility it was to make sure Tua knew the playbook. Love the kid.

Tua Tagovailoa: Transparency should excite Miami Dolphins fans

After admitting that he did not know the playbook well in 2020, Miami Dolphins fans should be excited for Tua Tagovailoa and his 2nd season in Miami.

phinphanatic.com

 

[Rev Kev]

Heh! That's awesome... The Chan Gailey haters have to read where Tua admits that he wasn't ready for anything complicated. That has to burn.

Seriously?

Chan is Gone he is Gone for a reason

Chans legacy is That O coordinator who couldn’t coach up Tua - a player who accepts coaching

That has to burn

 

[Mach2]

I genuinely don't know what you're referring to. What context?

If you're talking about the context from the confrontational gent who likes to passive-aggressively tell people how they can and cannot debate, I've grown tired of his antics and put him on ignore. You, I respect, and will happily discuss with you. The Arizona game isn't new information. Did Tua look great in that? Yes. Did he look less impressive in the following San Diego game, and then awful in the Denver game? Yes, he did.

Here's the thing about Tua's hip injury and subsequent recovery - we really don't have anywhere near the amount of data on recoveries from that sort of injury that we have on, say, ACLs. We know, for example, that some players can play the following year, but aren't quite what they were pre-injury until the following season. Did Tua push himself too hard, too fast in the Arizona game, and then his hip was recovering from the workload he put on it that day for the next few weeks?

I don't know. I'd be making **** up if I said I did. But here's the thing; neither does anyone else. Interestingly, Tua's not the only player on Miami who recently came back from a hip injury. Albert Wilson had a slight hip fracture and labrum tear in late October of 2018. This injury was nowhere near as significant as Tua's, but he wasn't nearly the same player in 2019 as he was in 2018 until the last few weeks of the season. Interestingly, once he started to produce more (in the Giants game) - he was limited in practice the following week because of...ready? Hip soreness.

My point is, I wondered late in the year if he was 100% up to speed. Again, there's a difference between 100% able to play when you're recovering from an injury and 100% recovered. So when the article listed LITERALLY references improvements he's made in his hip, and Tua LITERALLY says, "My hip feels 10 times better than it did last year. The confidence level for myself, I feel really confident coming into this second year after that injury two years ago"...I'm going to have a bit of an "Aha!" moment.

I posted the quote he made, (in which he wasn't even responding to Omar, for the benefit of those who clearly weren't paying attention), as a stand-alone post. Wasn't responding or retorting. So if someone replies with a completely nonsensical post about Omar...when Omar wasn't even involved in the quote I posted, and then tells me I can't have it both ways because of the Arizona game, he's going to get a fairly brusque retort.

I was simply addressing this specific post.

I can have it however I like.

1) I was referencing Tua’s quote. Kelly has proven repeatedly he’s excellent at taking things out of context; I tend to ignore him.

2) You’re allowed your opinion, I’m allowed mine.

Irrespective of Omar's usual "a$$hattedness", if that's a word, I don't think it was at all out of context in this case.

You are correct. None of us know for sure to what extent the injury held Tua back. I would say it definately had a substantial impact, particularly later in tge season as he, and most of the other rookies hit the proverbial "rookie wall".

Couple this to no real TC or preseason, it is not surprising that Tua was not really "ready" to play NFL QB at a high level.

 

[DPhinz_DPhinz]

Seriously?

Chan is Gone he is Gone for a reason

Chans legacy is That O coordinator who couldn’t coach up Tua - a player who accepts coaching

That has to burn

Tua, super smart/accurate/coachable/ leaderjust told you to your face that basically, HE couldn't get the playbook down after 16 weeks...and you still find a way to put this on Gailey's coaching.

This reasoning is why there will always be a a Hatfield/McCoy relationship between haters and acolytes of Tua.

 

[The Goat]

I was simply addressing this specific post.

Irrespective of Omar's usual "a$$hattedness", if that's a word, I don't think it was at all out of context in this case.

You are correct. None of us know for sure to what extent the injury held Tua back. I would say it definately had a substantial impact, particularly later in tge season as he, and most of the other rookies hit the proverbial "rookie wall".

Couple this to no real TC or preseason, it is not surprising that Tua was not really "ready" to play NFL QB at a high level.

Oh!

Then I misunderstood. I literally meant that I wasn't even addressing anything Kelly said - I didn't even KNOW what he had said when I made the post. I don't know how it even got brought into the conversation.

 

[Jssanto]

What about the rumor that Gailey's playbook was primarily for Fitz & really not adapted for TT?

I have not read all of the comments, but saying "I did not know the playbook well enough" seems sort of obvious. Who does as a rookie?
Then he said plays were simplified for him. Of course, you are a rookie.
The issue now is, are you Tom Brady. Do you put that level of nutrition, physical work, film room work, into your career?

 

[Jssanto]

My f/u comment is what is the most important QB skill?
Size?
Arm strength?
Mobility?
Intelligence?
Leadership?

 

[djphinfan]

Last year during the year I stated that Tua had lost his confidence and really didn’t want nor was ready to start football games, that he felt it wasn’t his team, that he didn’t feel like he earned the job.it was just my opinion based on some observations.

A lot of his demeanor I’m seeing and quotes I’m hearing is about him Gaining and having his confidence..

This Along with his new strength and body bodes very well for us..

We might be a really tough team this year to beat

 

[rafael]

I was firmly in the "Tua should not start year 1 even if he's cleared" camp. The transition is big and there's almost no advantage to putting somebody in who isn't mentally ready. Some can produce year one b/c they are great physical specimens, but often crash next year. IMO there's too much risk of developing poor habits, losing confidence, etc. vs. gaining experience which will come anyways. And in Tua's specific case, there is a difference in being "cleared" and being back. Anybody who has paid attention to football over the years has seen that it almost always takes a player two years to get back to form after a serious injury and Tua's was amongst the most serious.

As for being uncomfortable, I stated multiple times that the difference between the games where Tua 'looked good' vs. 'looked bad' were due to game planning and play calling. If the staff had done a good job of anticipating what the opponent was going to do and prepped Tua, he looked good. If they did a poor job, then Tua looked bad. And this makes sense if Tua had no ability to check out of bad plays. I had assumed that Tua just didn't know the playbook well enough to identify poor situations and know what to check to. But this interview revealed that even if he did know, he didn't have the ability to check out of poor plays (and according to him he didn't know much of the time anyways). It was never about Tua's ability or aggressiveness or any other made up thing.

 

[Fin Thirteen]

Tua, super smart/accurate/coachable/ leaderjust told you to your face that basically, HE couldn't get the playbook down after 16 weeks...and you still find a way to put this on Gailey's coaching.

This reasoning is why there will always be a a Hatfield/McCoy relationship between haters and acolytes of Tua.

He didn't say he couldn't get the playbook down.

He said he was playing with a reduced playbook as a rookie, which is hardly unusual - especially in contrast to a Fitz who knows that playbook back to front.

 

[AdamD13]

Some guys can do it, some can't. Dan was one of those guys who was not overly bright, but just seemed to do things instinctively... he just... knew. I don't think he was even able to explain how he knew, or why he saw things so quickly. Pete Rose was like that with hitting, he never could explain how he did it.

Other QBs do better when immersed in a very complex system full of hard work, memorization, and plenty of check-offs... and neither type of QB is necessarily better than the other.

Tua is a sharp, hard-working guy who promises to be MUCH better this year. I've never doubted his drive or his dedication... although I do still have doubts about his physique and his sturdiness, but we'll see where that goes.

Pete wrote a book on how to hit.

Amazon product ASIN 0399511644

 

[DPhinz_DPhinz]

He didn't say he couldn't get the playbook down.

He said he was playing with a reduced playbook as a rookie, which is hardly unusual - especially in contrast to a Fitz who knows that playbook back to front.

"I didn't actually know the playbook, necessarily, really, really good, and that's no one else's fault but my fault. Our playcalls were simple when I was in."

As quoted from ESPN. He couldn't grasp a dumbed down version of an outdated playbook?

That tells me that either he didn't dive into it, or he's not half as smart as people claim he is.