Miami Dolphins star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was able to thrive in Saturday’s preseason game even without his fellow star players in the team’s lineup when he was inserted into the game during one drive. But it doesn’t sound like he’s necessarily surprised by that.
During Saturday’s preseason game against the Washington Commanders, Tua Tagovailoa played one drive and completed all five of his pass attempts including a touchdown pass to River Cracraft. It was a pretty difficult situation playing without his top weapons like Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle, but he clearly made the most of it, and he offered his reaction to his performance despite the lack of star power.
“That’s not the first time we’ve not had those guys in there, and we’ve played and we’ve scored,” Tagovailoa said according to Pro Football Talk. “Would it be good to have those guys? It would be great to have those guys. It opens up our game plan for a lot of deep things, and it opens up the run game as well with the two shells that we get with those guys in. But outside of that, football is football with whoever you’ve got in there. You’ve got to call the play. You’ve got to see it, envision it, and then you go through your keys. If it’s one high, this is how I’m going to read it. If it’s two high, this is how I’m going to read it regardless of who’s in.”
Clearly, Tagovailoa understands the need to perform regardless of the weapons he’s given.
