Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa did not lead the staff to victory in his first recreation again from injured reserve Sunday, however he did show a willingness to guard himself that his teammates, coaches and followers hoped for.
Tagovailoa accomplished 28 of 38 passes for 234 yards and a landing in his first recreation since struggling a concussion on Sept. 12 and drew loud reward from the house crowd when he was launched earlier than the sport. The group cheered even louder within the third quarter, when Tagovailoa slid after selecting up a primary down on a 13-yard scramble.
The quarterback mentioned it was “tremendous cool” to listen to the group’s response and mentioned that defending himself when he returned was a degree of emphasis throughout his time on IR.
“I am simply making an attempt to keep away from the large hits if I can. Generally they’re unavoidable,” he mentioned. “If there is a free rusher and you bought to get the ball out, you are taking a success, however only for me placing myself in these conditions, I might say simply clearly for the previous 5 weeks, I’ve been capable of simply actually assume and ponder about my choices.”
Tagovailoa was recognized with a concussion when he lowered his shoulder into Buffalo Payments security Damar Hamlin throughout Miami’s Week 2 loss. His helmet hit Hamlin’s arm, and his physique entered a fencing posture.
Dolphins gamers and coached emphasised to Tagovailoa over the previous month the significance of avoiding pointless contact; extensive receiver Tyreek Hill even steered Dolphins followers cheer for Tagovailoa every time he does slide.
Message obtained.
“My response was ‘I believe he’ll get the primary down.’ I am fairly certain what he’ll do, however you by no means know till it occurs,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel mentioned. “When he is conscious and never making an attempt to run defenders over, he usually is ready to keep fairly wholesome. So I used to be excited that he did not hesitate and that he was very convicted in how he approached house, discovered house, and he bought himself down.”
McDaniel mentioned he wasn’t essentially “relieved” to see his quarterback exit the sport unscathed, as a result of that may indicate that he was nervous about it to start with. He as an alternative mentioned the sport performed out how he envisioned, in that regard.
Miami employed its trademark fast passing offense, with Tagovailoa trying 24 of his 38 passes in 2.5 seconds or much less.
Tagovailoa’s return sparked life right into a Dolphins offense that ranked lifeless final in scoring coming into Sunday’s recreation. Towards Arizona, the Dolphins scored a number of touchdowns in a single recreation for the primary time since Week 1, recorded their highest yardage whole (377) since Week 1 and the best scoring whole of the season.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t sufficient to keep away from the 28-27 loss to the Cardinals on Chad Ryland’s last-second, 34-yard area aim.
“It feels good to have the ability to come again and play with my teammates,” Tagovailoa mentioned. “To hopefully assist in no matter approach I can to get a spark going for us offensively or get the mojo going for the whole staff. It feels good however a tricky loss at present in opposition to a very good staff, in order that diminishes not simply what I’ve achieved, however a variety of what different guys have achieved individually as nicely.”
Even with a 2-5 document, the Dolphins remained in second place within the AFC East after the New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets 25-22 on Sunday. All three groups are at the least three video games behind the division main Buffalo Payments, though Miami can have the chance to chop into that deficit when it travels to Buffalo in Week 9.
Tagovailoa mentioned “there’s all the time time” to show a season round, regardless of the Dolphins’ worst begin underneath McDaniel, and referenced the staff’s 8-1 end to the 2021 season after beginning 1-7, narrowly lacking out on an AFC playoff berth.
“No disrespect to my different teammates, however I am speaking in regards to the expertise that we now have right here — we did not have half that expertise (in 2021),” he mentioned. “So, to offer that group respect, we received the following [seven] video games. I am not saying we will do this or whatnot, however it’s doable. Something’s doable. So, we will proceed to belief one another, lean on one another, imagine in one another, and we will go do it subsequent week.”
