Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores seems confident that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will soon be taking part in the team’s voluntary offseason program.
Flores spoke on a local radio program and indicated that while he was uncertain about who would show up for the second phase of the workouts, he’s confident that Tagovailoa will soon be in attendance.
“We haven’t seen him yet,” Flores said. “Today’s the first day of Phase 2 where we’ll actually get a chunk of the guys and we’ll see them. We’re looking forward to working with him. My conversations with him sound like things are going in the right direction.”
After getting his feet wet as a rookie last year, Tagovailoa has been preparing for what Flores hopes will a big step forward in the signal-caller’s development.
“We’ve talked to him about the Year 1 to Year 2 jump,” Flores said. “It’s a real thing. He’s more comfortable with just his surroundings, more comfortable being in a huddle, giving a cadence, going through his communication. Those little things that no one talks about. He’s said this: He feels much more comfortable about doing those things. I think having a year under his belt will really help him. What we really like is him finding time to get with his receivers, getting with his centers, go through his cadence, go through his communication, go through his reads. They’re doing a lot of that on his own.”
Last year, Tagovailoa started nine games, threw for 1,814 yards and 11 touchdowns. However, he closed on a low note by throwing three interceptions in the regular season finale against the Buffalo Bills.
Tagovailoa was handled delicately last year after coming off major hip surgery, but he’s expected to broaden his game during the 2021 campaign.
Accomplishing that means putting in the necessary work, something that Tagovailoa has embraced. While the topic of voluntary offseason workouts has developed into a contentious issue across the league, that doesn’t seem to concern the second-year passer much.
The hope is that Tagovailoa is revved up to go when the Dolphins regular season kicks off on Sept. 12 against the New England Patriots.
