MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — With the team on a short week, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke with reporters Tuesday at the Baptist Health Training Complex, as the Dolphins (0-2) prepare for a Thursday Night Football showdown against the Buffalo Bills (2-0).
Tagovailoa, who threw two touchdowns and a costly fourth-quarter interception in the Dolphins’ 33-27 Week 2 loss against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium – dropping Miami to 0-2 for the first time since 2019 – was asked about Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP.
“Dude, he’s top-tier. If it’s not with his arm it’s with his legs – that dude can do anything he wants. I can’t do half of what he does in terms of running the ball … It’s gonna be fun to get to see him, get to play him again,” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa acknowledged the challenges Allen and Buffalo’s disciplined defense present, saying the Bills’ scheme forces opponents to stay patient.
“That’s one of the teams that just want to get to a spot, we’ll just keep everything, hey, numbers to numbers and inside. Like that’s where we’re going to force them not to throw,” he said. “If they want to do the check downs, like, force them to throw those check downs because they can’t sustain that. Force them to throw outside the numbers because they can’t sustain that.”
Tagovailoa also addressed his own struggles through the first two games, particularly with turnovers.
On the late interception against New England, Tagovailoa said tight end Julian Hill was part of the play design.
“Yeah, everyone is a part of the progression in the play. He had his assignment and then he chipped out, went up, didn’t see him, just tried to make something happen there,” he said. “That’s what it was.”
Tagovailoa noted that defenses have consistently clogged the middle of the field, taking away Miami’s bread-and-butter passing lanes.
“That’s the style that teams have played us in and they’ve found a lot of success,” he said. “We had to throw outside of the numbers this past game and then the check downs; we try to find ways to maneuver guys, to get out of the middle so that we can find those soft spots inside the numbers.”
Still, Tagovailoa pointed to his connection with Tyreek Hill as a bright spot.
The pair connected on a 47-yard pass against New England, a play he admitted wasn’t perfectly executed. It was the first time since Week 1 of the 2024 season that Hill has recorded a reception of 30 yards or more.
“In this past game, just looking at what the defense was allowing for us to do, we’ll give ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill), we’ll give (Jaylen) Waddle those opportunities,” Tagovailoa said. “That deep ball – that was one of those where like, ‘Hey, we need a spark from our offense,’ and it was like, ‘’Reek,’ I’m just coming to you no matter what they do on this, and you’ve got to make me right.’”
He laughed when asked if he underthrew Hill.
“Oh yeah, heck yeah. Heck yeah, I definitely did,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get both my feet under me as I was moving off the spot to make that throw.”
Despite the 0-2 start, Tagovailoa said the team must remain steady.
“It’s one of those deals where you can never get too high in this league; you can never be too low,” he said. “You’ve just got to continue to stick to your process, stay even keel, trust the guys, continue to bring those guys along and you go out there and you continue to play. Do your job, do the best that you can and the result will take care of itself.”
Now, with another AFC East clash looming, Tagovailoa said the focus is on better communication and execution.
“It also has a lot to do with kind of wanting to do new personnels, and with that comes responsibility from guys that never had to do that in years past,” he said. “Coming into this Thursday night game, how can we tailor that to maybe only these couple personnels and then with the guys that we want in there, let’s just go play football.”
Tagovailoa is 1-5 in his career against the Bills – the lone win coming in September 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium.
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