Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s road to recovery won’t be fully completed until the No. 5 overall pick steps onto an NFL field for the first time and takes his first snap — but never the less Tagovailoa’s journey has been a long, cumbersome and challenging one. And, from what we can tell from afar, the worst is presumably over.
The Tagovailoa camp attempted to appeal to NFL teams ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft with an extensive throwing session; which was sent by video to each NFL team. How much that actually impacted Miami in their decision to draft him or not is hard to say — but what we do know is that the Dolphins were thrilled to get their guy regardless of his durability concerns.
And with no mini-camp or OTAs in place, Tagovailoa continues to rehab and work back to full strength on his own — and the latest progress hit the internet this weekend.
Check out Tua's foot speed already. Making major progress.
(Via Wilk_Kevin on Instagram). pic.twitter.com/fk4fHt19fx
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 23, 2020
Is this the cleanest ladder drill or footwork you’ll ever see? No, but bear in mind Tagovailoa is barely six months removed from the dislocated hip that put his status as a 2020 NFL Draft prospect and potentially even his playing career in jeopardy. The recovery we’ve seen to date is an impressive testament to Tagovailoa’s work ethic in his rehab. As he progresses further away from the injury against Mississippi State, the expectations for his athletic performance will continue to climb — and soon enough we’ll be pressing to ask when we might see him on the field as the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins.
But for now, we should be thankful to see Miami’s new franchise quarterback up and moving as well as he is — and that he’s continuing to advance in the complexity and layers of his movements as he continues his rehab and recovery.