MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Tua Tagovailoa has been the Miami Dolphins’ best and most important player in 2024. And the evidence supporting that thesis has been even more compelling when he’s off the field than when he’s on it.
Tagovailoa, like all of us, saw how bad the Dolphins’ offense looked during his four-week stint on injured reserve, which he believes is a major reason the team is 5-7 and a very long shot to make the playoffs.
Tua Tagovailoa Shoulders Blame for Miami Dolphins’ Season
Asked by PFN Wednesday how surprised he is by Miami’s record, Tagovailoa replied:
“Very surprised. I don’t think that shows the character of who we are as a team. Doesn’t show the work that we’ve put in this offseason together.
“Nobody else will say it but me and I feel like this has a lot to do with myself, obviously putting myself in harm’s way in the second game, going down, basically leaving my guys out to dry. That’s what I would say. Anyone can have an opinion about football, it’s this, it’s that, you know, I do take heart to that as well. Don’t wanna do that to my guys again.”
Tagovailoa of course is referring to his decision to seek out contact instead of slide during a fourth-down run in the Dolphins’ Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills that resulted in his fourth diagnosed concussion in five years.
That began a two-month stretch that likely doomed the Dolphins’ season.
They lost six of seven — including three of four with Tagovailoa on IR — and left themselves no margin for error in the final six weeks of the season. And it made Thursday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers far more damaging than it should have been.
As admirable as it is for Tagovailoa to fall on the sword, he’s more than made up for that one lapse in judgment. Tagovailoa this season has been marvelous, completing 74.5% of his passes for 2,125 yards (7.6 yards per attempt), 15 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 108 passer rating.
The other three Dolphins quarterbacks to see the field this year — Skylar Thompson, Snoop Huntley, and Tim Boyle — completed 60% of their attempts, averaged 5.7 per pass, and had a combined passer rating of 75.3.
Even more jarring: How bad the offense was collectively when he was out. In the eight games in which Tua has appeared, they have a +7 point differential and a total offensive EPA of 22.23, per TruMedia.
In the four he didn’t? -41 and -66.11.
Tua Talks Trevor Lawrence
If Tagovailoa needed any more of a reminder of the dangers of football, the dirty head shot Azeez Al-Shaair landed on Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence Sunday took care of it.
Lawrence was well into his slide and had given himself up when Al-Shaair delivered a forearm shiver to his head, concussing Lawrence so severely that he assumed the fencing posture. The Jaguars placed Lawrence on injured reserve Wednesday, likely ending his season.
“That was crazy,” Tagovailoa said. “I thought that was crazy. He was giving himself up and, you know, the defensive guy came and smoked him.
“Then again, I don’t know the reaction time with being a defender trying to go and make a play on a guy. I don’t know all the logistics with that. But I felt like he did have time to, to sort of, even if he was gonna launch, he could have launched out of the way knowing that Trevor was giving himself up.
“To that, I hope Trevor’s doing ok. I hope his family’s ok. I know that can take a toll on your family more than yourself sometimes and I hope his wife is OK as well.”