Tua Tagovailoa meets with the media | Miami Dolphins

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa meets with the media after practice on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.

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Talk to you people people actually people actually doubted that that was what it meant and then when they saw the hard knots and actually saw you say it really they made them believe it cuz they thought you were talking you know like nonsense like or oh no dude if I

Wanted to talk smack I think you’d probably know I’m talking smack as not even close it’s just part of the game it’s fun like that was that was fun and um that talk to me thing really that’s like a like as we came into OTAs jayen

Wadd was like that that was Jaylen Wadd would just say that um constantly throughout OTAs and then um I guess it just been used so much like I just started saying it to a point where everyone was like that’s hilarious every time you say it um in practice I’d throw

A bomb and the D Lin’s like bro seriously and I look at them and like talk to me and then they’d start laughing and then they’d start using it too um and it it really started out started out that way so uh I take no credit and then um like that that’s Jay

Jaylen W’s deal but um the whole signal thing like just made it even funnier it it heightened um it heightened it so uh people that knew um that were inside knew that knew what that was um could sort of hear me saying it and could hear

You know other people saying that when I gestured that so that’s what that was have you have have you warmed up a little bit to to Hard Knocks I know early on you weren’t totally thrilled that they were here has it no yeah they didn’t he my uh episode from the house

Yet you got it I was messing I was no I um no yeah they they haven’t um they haven’t asked uh this week or um last week I’m sure they have asked an but n hasn’t brought it to my attention yet or I I don’t know but um I mess

Around with them with that as well um I’ll just tell them I I’ll see you guys later on tonight and they uh they think it’s funny when they know it’s like uh I don’t know if he’s being serious or he’s not being serious so I don’t know we’ll

We’ll see I mean still still a lot of lot of games left one thing the last hard KN um showed was a speech that Mike gave the team where he took lot of accountability for some of his play calls what does that mean to you to to

The players when a coach is taking that level of accountability on himself yeah I I think that shows the leadership that he he has that um it’s not something that is a one-time deal it’s something that as a team we’re we’re actually sort of used to um he’s one of the first to

Admit he’s wrong when he is wrong um and he’s going to be also the first to admit that if it was a baller play call that it was a b play call like that’s that’s the reason as to why we work why we do

Do this why we invest so much into it um but uh it it’s sort of at a point where um like because he takes so much accountability everyone also shares that same trait of uh like no it’s it’s it’s my fault I could have did better on my

Part or you know everyone feels that sort of um uh need or want to to take to take the fall or take to blame but uh it’s rare that I think you ever see that in in this league because it is tough

And um it is a job and it is uh uh you know result oriented you know what you put out there um is you know basically how however long you you are able to keep your job or or whatever it is but um that’s what this league is and I

Think it’s super cool that he does that and it trickles down to all of us how you take away from how much you take away from the Bills Cowboys game last week when looking at Cowboys defense considering their whole body work has been much better than what what you saw

Last week yeah I I I don’t I don’t necessarily look at uh one particular game when we watch games um but you you do want to look at games that uh you know where they struggled what what were their struggles um you know things that we can take advantage of um you know

Within the pass game The Run game but um you know I I sort of think of our team last week coming off the loss to to Tennessee um you know I can I can sense that that’s where they would probably be um not a very fun team meeting to be in

Um and and guys are you know are going to be dialed in locked in doing whatever they need to do to get that feeling um you know off their chest or off their shoulders and so uh for me I’m I mean we’re we’re going to prepare the same

Way we’ve prepared for any other team so we’re expecting their best they’re going to do anything and everything they can um you know um to to to beat us and we’re going to do the exact same Mike was asked uh earlier about um you know your interceptions and the fact that you

Haven’t really thrown any in the past three games and he said you know that that’s natural that you’re going to throw picks but he feels like you’re progressing each game how do you think you’ve grown maybe from the beginning of the season to now in the final month of

The Season well I think there’s there’s continued uh growth every every uh every time I step out on that field um there’s always something new that I can learn um you know just when you think you you got it and you’ve been playing for however long however many games um there’s

Always going to be new things uh new challenges new obstacles um but that’s the beauty of this game and and for for me I think that’s um also allowed uh you know me to be the the human that I am also um and I think in this league you

Also mature a lot quicker um you know because as good as things can be uh they can be just as bad the next week or the following week and uh through all of those obstacles of the wins and the losses so many things that you can learn

From and um this league is is just like golf like you can go out and shoot really good one day and then you’re like oh I I’m in my rhythm the next day you go out and you you know you you forgot how to even hit the ball the way you

Were hitting it yesterday and it’ll humble you in that sense so uh it’s just like uh just like golf golf and football um is the best way I could sort of correlate that kind of real quick I’m sorry I could just bu off of his

Question uh don Blan has a lot of Splash plays this year when you watch him on tape what do you see yeah I mean you you don’t you don’t just uh you know you just don’t show up on Sundays and you know and poop that out if you will um

You know having NFL record and pick sixes and whatnot you you don’t just uh show up on Sundays and and do that um so you know he he’s done a great job I I think um Dan Quinn has done a great job for their defense as well um they got

Really talented players up front really talented players in the back end um and we we know what we’re going to have to do we know what kind of game this is going to be it’s going to be a hard fought uh physical 60-minute game and uh

We’ll be ready uh come time Sunday I’ve always somebody had a question okay um I know Mike worked under Dan and um and you’re so candidate and honest I know you’re going to give me an honest answer how much does that help you when a guy has worked under a

Coach and he knows his ins and outs of his defense and obviously not with the Cowboys but his me his mentality and tendencies yeah I I think it it could go both ways of uh Mike understanding um sort of how how you know Dan has ran his

His defense or how how his like he he would a game plan for teams and whatnot but I also think that um like with Dan knowing that um that we could expect things that um other teams have ran um that have been successful against us as

Well so uh it’s it’s sort of in in between of we know but then at the same time be prepared for the unknown to you got to stick to your rules what do what do your rules tell you this is how you’re going to have to read this out if

If that’s the case um and then same thing could be uh you know for for Dan um been around you know how U Mike in stalls Run game how how they’ve um done things with with Kyo and and whatnot so I think it could work both ways but um

We’ll just be ready for the unexpected Raheem was talking after the game about Wadd and how maybe he was beating himself up throughout the year that he performs like he does what have you seen in Wadd throughout the year and now after that big game Sunday yeah I I

Personally um me person personally I I’ve seen I’ve seen someone that’s just came in day in day out just grinding um not once that I ever see him feel sorry for himself um throughout um the success that Tyreek has had um but you you could see that that there had been some uh

Some times where it’s like man I I sort of wish um I was involved more or or this happened more this happened but um you know it’s one of those deals where I I’ve said it before where we’ve we’ve called a play for w to be um the person

You know to be first in that progression and it just so happens the defense doesn’t allow for for that um you know route to to be open um but as as anyone else would um you know he he he was FR I’m sure he was very frustrated um you

Know coming from being the wide receiver one in in my rookie year and in my second Year to you know wide receiver one wide receiver receiver 1B like what you know where where do I fit in in this offense um and so for you know for him

To have have been able to go out um you know and and show to everyone and remind everyone like letting you guys know like I’m I’m still that person like if you guys allow me that opportunity so um very proud of what he’s done what he’s

Put on tape and what he continues to do for our team um but yeah that’s that’s what I would say about that you guys can clinch up playoff spot if you win this weekend how important or how meaningful will that be for you getting to play

This late into the Year and have that opportunity to do it here I wish you didn’t share that I wish you didn’t share that I I had no idea um uh about any of the the um scenarios of what what that would have looked like um at any

Time we just we just want to come out the game with a win um and we want to Stack those together and so you know if you can win them all that’s that’s that’s what it is weren’t the Cowboys your favorite team growing up yeah yep Cowboys are my favorite team

Growing up um they played on Prime Time a lot and in Hawaii um you know prime time is like 3:00 p.m. they’re like dang it’s night over there it’s like the the sun is still up over here um so yeah we we uh I come from a family that uh they

They’re big Cowboys fans um but uh not anymore not anymore everyone’s Dolphins fans and then the ones who still support the Cowboys they’re probably not my family anyways going to be like playing them for the first time say what what’s it going to be like playing them for the

First time the team that you grew up rooting for uh it’s going to be cool it’s going to be cool um I mean it it’s going to be cool for for the moment just being able to see the star uh being able to see those guys in their jerseys

Whatever and whatnot um you know some of the guys that are playing I used to watch them while I was in high school um playing High School football and now I get to play against um you know some of the guys on their team so that’ll be

Cool but at the end of the day uh we I got a job and you know we want to go out there and we want to beat them Mike said it’s been a long time since the defense has played what they’ve shown you on tape adjusting to your your motion and

Your timing can you maybe share the Evolution for you and like controlling the offense when it comes to timing and motion and what a defense is supposed to do versus what they do yeah well I I would say with our motions it gets to a

Point where if we we just call a play without emotion uh it’s like like it’s very weird and it’s not just weird for me it’s weird for the entire offense like are you sure we’re just lining up and running this play um there are perks to like doing both where it’s like okay

They’ve motioned so many times like and we’ve we’ve got however many looks from them like we’re expecting that so guys are going to get ready they’re looking at their keys and sometimes will just come up and snap the ball and not not motion I think all of that uh um plays

Plays into the rhythm of our offense they also play into um keeping the defense on their on their toes like we every play we have to communicate um we don’t know what that’s going to look like but we’re going to have to communicate whether with if that’s with

The front with the change of strength with the y or you know the other motions the back end’s going to have to communicate so that’s what it forces those those guys to do and uh for us I think we’ve because we’ve seen so many different looks off of those motions um

It sort of helps um you know how we need to block it in the Run game and then uh where we can see um you know in as far as space within their defense with the routes that we have gr gr up without Tyreek last week uh and being able to

Put up 30 points and move the ball like you guys did was that something that confirmed something within yourselves or or was any criticism about your ability to do so without him something that came mainly from outside the building no I I I would say um it it’s always tough when

You when you don’t have uh you know one of your best guys out there um to to me I i’ I’d personally say like none of us none of us really really cares who’s out there or who’s not like at the end of the day whoever’s in there we all trust

That we can get it done with those people even when I wasn’t in there last year like that was the mindset that that those guys had like okay like two is down we can’t do anything about it Tyreek down like we can’t do anything

About it we got to go out there we still got to play those guys don’t care that Tyreek out like those guys didn’t care that I was out last year it doesn’t matter we got to go out there and play and I think that should tell you a lot

About about the guys that that were out there um you know everyone wants to make this like I I keep saying everyone wants to make this about me about Tyreek like please keep pushing it to Tyreek like make it about Tyreek I understand that my platform and who I am in this league

As a quarterback makes me if you want polarizing whether I’m the best whether I’m the worst like I could care less like I don’t listen to it this is my bearer of bad news and noan I hate to say it I hate to say that but that’s my

Bearer of bad news if anyone has something to if if anyone has something bad to say about me but at the end of the day like I really don’t care but if she does share it with me I mean I keep receipts we all we all have have have a

Way of how we do things but like all the narratives about it I am yeah sure I am only good with tyreen i that you’re right I am that is the only time I’m at my best um you’re right I’m only good when jaylen’s in I I I could care less

About it like sure uh if Jaylen and those guys aren out like I’m only as good as Raheem moard allows me to be like that’s that’s what the narrative needs to be and we’re able to win games and we’re able to go where we want to go as

A team I am the worst football player if that’s what you want like I don’t care like I really don’t so whatever it is whatever you need on your show like take Clips out out of what I just said do it do what you need to do like that I’m

Just here to do my job and my job is to help our guys win games so to it’s it’s not a narrative it’s actually a fact that you’re the most popular player in the NFL among fans no player has more fan no but I’m going to ask how you feel

About it no player is more popular than you you’re number one in fan support nice how do you feel about that uh it it makes me feel weird it’s different um just CU I Tred not to make things about myself I like to make it about others um so uh that I

Mean that’s that’s probably um yeah that that it’s it’s Unique I would say but of course I I I appreciate the support from the fans I appreciate uh you know those that are in support of me and and my teammates um I I don’t know what M what allows you

Like what makes you say that like What statistic is oh okay got you when you see all the one jerseys is it something that it’s just so common it doesn’t even resonate with you or does it still have like a little impact on you there’s so many jerseys these people are wearing your

Number well for for me like every time I step out there on the field it’s always just about like me proving myself like right every time like dude yeah you came into this league like you like I would even question myself like like am I even

Like good like you know like like do I even belong in this league things like that and then it’s like every time I step foot out on that field and I see someone wearing my jersey like yeah it’s like dude I I want to prove myself right

But prove like you know to those people as well like dude yeah like you you had to have brought that bought that Jersey for a reason like whether you’re a fan of me as a football player or a fan of my journey or a fan of um things I’ve

I’ve done like yeah every every time I see that I’m like that that’s super cool cuz as a kid growing up uh like you like I I would do the same for like other players like I’d wear their jerseys hoping to be like them and then now like

It’s come full circle so to be able to hear that that’s very cool that’s very cool and uh um just the the how that process works it’s cool but like I said it’s also a little little weird when I become the spotlight of it your brother’s about to go into the draft

Preparing for the draft what was your reaction to hearing that and what advice do you have for him uh well um I’m I’m always here for for you know Le I’m always here for you uh you know that um whatever you need I I can help with uh

But outside of that I I just tell my brother to to listen to uh what he thinks is best when he hires agents or when he you know has to go throughout that process of um you know that but I I’m I’m not the one that’s going to tell

You who you should go with or whatnot like that should be totally up to you um because when it’s your decision uh regardless of if it’s right or wrong in the end you always make it right