One thing that we know for certain is that the drama and uncertainty surrounding the Miami Dolphins quarterback situation doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon. As much as many Dolphins fans would prefer to see the whispers and speculation of Deshaun Watson and Miami being a destination go away, it is inevitable that until the Watson standoff is resolved, Miami will continue to be attached to the rumors.
Miami’s current quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, is inevitably caught up in the crossfire as a result — but he’s doing his absolute best to keep the right perspective amid all the speculation. Tagovailoa appeared this morning on The Dan Patrick Show and the topic of the young quarterback’s status in Miami was brought up. And while questions about such a subject can be awkward, Tagovailoa did his best to relay that he’s focused on the right things: what he can control.
.@dpshow: "I was gonna buy a Tua #Dolphins jersey in the offseason. I just want to make sure you're still gonna be there. Should I wait til August?"
Tua: "Honestly, I'm not too sure. I can't control things that I can't control. What I can do is continue to work hard."
— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) February 1, 2021
The conversation between Patrick and Tagovailoa spanned across plenty more than just the Deshaun Watson rumors — and it was somewhat surprising to hear Tagovailoa be as candid as he was. The perspective is in the right place however. And Tagovailoa has bigger plans for 2021, too. When asked to rate his rookie season, Tagovailoa suggested his play was “below average” but at least his health what back to 100% and he was able to play.
Tua describes rookie season as "below average" lot of things to learn from. #Dolphins
— Chris Sciria (@csciria) February 1, 2021
This is exactly the kind of mentality you want to hear from a young quarterback. Good big picture perspective and plenty of self criticism for ways to improve his game. And as Tagovailoa’s career advances, he’ll avoid plenty of the rookie mistakes that contributed to some of Miami’s shortcomings on offense. You can’t say Tagovailoa was directly to blame for Miami’s issues offensively. But his inexperience paired with the limited supporting cast did prove too much for Miami to overcome for stretches of the year.
And that fact is exactly what makes the proposition of Tagovailoa back behind center with a better supporting cast so exciting. We’ll just need to wait and see for sure if that chance will be in Miami or not. Even Tagovailoa admits to not knowing that for certain just yet.