Dolphins offensive coordinator praises Tua Tagovailoa’s feel for the game

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (Ross D. Franklin, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

DAVIE, Fla. – Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is getting rave reviews from his offensive coordinator.

On Tuesday, Chan Gailey talked about his young pupil.

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Gailey said, “He has a tremendous feel for the game. That allows him to see some things and do some things, throw the ball in some spots other people might not do. He just went out and played the game. He didn’t care who was there, who wasn’t there. He was playing the game. That’s what you like about him. He wasn’t thinking about adversity, he was thinking about how can we go be successful. That will carry a person a long way.”

The Dolphins trailed the Cardinals 31-24 heading into the fourth quarter on Sunday.

The rookie was able to engineer two scoring drives, a touchdown and a field goal.

The Dolphins improved to 5-3 on the season and 2-0 with Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback.

Gailey added, “The next strides, he’s gotta see and understand defenses more and more. And that just comes from doing it. We worked against the same defense, all offseason. We didn’t have any preseason games to say this is what another team does, this is what another team does, he’s getting that on the fly. I think just understanding defenses, what they’re trying to do... those type of things will be the strides I hope he makes in the next few weeks.”

Tagovailoa is coming back from hip surgery that ended his college career.

Gailey said Tagovailoa looks physically fine, “It looks like it to me. I can’t see a real difference. Physically is the one thing that you had the concern about and he relieved our thoughts about that the other night.”

The Dolphins will host the LA Chargers at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.


About the Author

David Lang is executive producer of the Local 10 sports department.

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