The Miami Dolphins have put together a 10-4 record through the first 15 weeks of their 2023 campaign, as they currently sit atop the AFC East.
One of the main reasons for their success has been the performance of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. In his fourth season, the 25-year-old has set a new career-high for passing yards (league-leading 3,921 yards) and completion percentage (league-leading 71%) while tying his career-best in touchdowns (25).
Despite Tagovailoa’s accomplishments, there’s still a narrative surrounding the Dolphins that he’s a product of having Tyreek Hill as his top receiver.
For the first time since Hill was traded to Miami last year, Tagovailoa played a game without the star wideout. He completed an incredible 87.5% of his passes for 224 yards and a touchdown in the team’s 30-0 shutout of the New York Jets.
On Wednesday, Tagovailoa was asked if performing well without Hill confirmed something about themselves or if that criticism was all just outside their facilities.
“Everyone wants to make this, I keep saying it, everyone wants to make this about me, about Tyreek,” Tagovailoa said. “Please keep pushing it to Tyreek. 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, I could care less. I don’t listen to it. This is my bearer of bad news, (is the communications staff). I hate to say it, but that’s my bearer of bad news if anyone has something bad to say about me.
“But at the end of the day, I really don’t care. If it is shared with me – I mean, I keep receipts. We all have a way of how we do things. But all the narratives about it, sure I’m only good with Tyreek. You’re right. That’s the only time I’m at my best. You’re right. I’m only good when Jaylen (Waddle) is in. I could care less about it. Sure, if Jaylen and those guys are out, I’m only as good as Raheem Mostert allows me to be. If 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. I don’t care. I really don’t. Whatever it is, whatever you need on your show, take clips out of what I just said, do what you need to do. I’m just here to do my job and my job is to help our guys win games.”
Tagovailoa has always been about a business. He wants to come in each day and perform at the highest level to help his team win. It’s evident that he’s a competitor, and when he doesn’t play up to his standards, he’s hard on himself. That’s something we’ve heard from him and head coach Mike McDaniel consistently this year.
So, no matter who is on the field, Tagovailoa is going to try and will his team to win, and he doesn’t care who the credit is going to, as long as there’s another tick in the win column at the end of the week.