Believe it or not, Tua Tagovailoa is an experienced quarterback in the snow.
The Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills will faceoff in an important AFC East matchup in Week 15. The Saturday night kickoff is expected to be a winter wonderland.
Ahead of that, Tagovailoa revealed this week that he has dealt with the harsh winters in… Tuscaloosa?
“It snowed in Alabama my first year there,” Tagovailoa said via press conference, referencing college at the University of Alabama. “Yeah, so, it snows in Alabama, guys.”
“I know, I mean, people don’t know that. There’s some people that just think… it just gets cold in Alabama. It does snow,” he added.
In a more serious tone, the Dolphins will have to deal with lake-effect snow this weekend. A bit different than a dusting in the South.
Tagovailoa did say he got a chance to throw in heavier snow before, just not in a game setting.
Instead, he visited his brother, Taulia Tagovailoa–the University of Maryland quarterback, at his school. While there, he took part in some snowy drills and she he actually did not mind it.
“It felt really good throwing it while it was snowing,” Tagovailoa said. “I didn’t feel any effects of throwing it in the snow.”
“I think for me, it’s understanding that there could be many things — could be snowing, it could rain, I don’t know,” Tagovailoa continued. “For me at least, it’s a mindset thing, really. If I’m too focused and worried about, ‘Is it too cold? Can I really grab the ball? Can I not,’ then I would say I’m focused on the wrong things. It’ll be hard to play that way going down there and playing against a good team.”
That’s a bit of the frame of mind the entire Dolphins locker room will attempt to have as well. That, according to Miami head coach Mike McDaniel.
The even went as far as saying there will be “zero monitoring” of Buffalo’s weather before game day.
“I think it’s kind of like playing in Miami. All right, it’s hot. We’re used to it being hot. Does that mean we win every game? I mean, the course of the game can be influenced, but you still have to play in the same temperature and climate are as the opposing team. Just one’s more used to it than the other,” McDaniel said. “I think that’s something that you have to be real and upfront that, ‘Hey, it’s going to be cold,’ but it’s also something that no one cares. The box score doesn’t read, ‘Asterisk, it was cold.’ So it is what it is.”
That’s one way to approach it.
All the meanwhile, the Bills have been talking about embracing the snow.
Buffalo tight end Dawson Knox said “that’s how football should be played” when referencing the cold weather en route.
Evidently, the AFC East’s winner in 2022 could come down to which team approaches snowfall better.
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