Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa received some high praise from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the buildup to their meeting on Sunday.
Tagovailoa has started five of the last six games for the Dolphins. He also recently expressed his own deep respect for Mahomes and all that he has accomplished in the NFL.
Marveling at the rookie’s talent, Mahomes compared his own progress to that of Tagovailoa.
“He’s just he’s super talented,” Mahomes said of Tagovailoa. “He understands what it takes to win football games. I think that comes from playing at Alabama and winning those national championships there. He understands exactly what needs to be done to win football games, so for me as far as Alex [Smith] and me, and Ryan Fitzpatrick and him, I think they have a great dynamic there where they like me and Alex, two great football players that just want to go out there and win in whatever way possible and help out the team. So obviously it works, and they’ve won a lot of football games and it’ll be a great challenge for us this week to beat a really good football team.”
Mahomes only started the final game of the 2017 season during his rookie year, but then put together a monstrous second season by throwing for over 5,000 yards and tossing 50 touchdown passes.
Last season, he led the Chiefs to their first league title in 50 years and was named Super Bowl MVP.
Mahomes also offered praise for Tagovailoa’s field presence and his ability to quickly learn the game.
“You can see it from his college career and then now in his pro career; he knows how to manage the game and manage the situation,” Mahomes said. “I mean he does a good job of knowing that his defense, his special teams are working and can do what he can on offense to put up enough points to win football games. He’s done that his whole career and that’s truly a remarkable thing.
“I mean, that’s something that I wasn’t that good at my first year here and obviously he has the talent. He can make all the throws, he can roll to his right, to his left and throw off balance, and he can run and make stuff happen too, so that veteran kind of mental mindset that he has, I think it’s truly special at this time in his career.”
Tagovailoa would no doubt like to have the same trajectory as Mahomes has had over his four-year career. However, he is now most focused on trying to get the Dolphins into the postseason.
