MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It’s a constant theme of the Miami Dolphins offseason, and it will continue as such until quarterback Tua Tagovailoa gets the opportunity to prove he can remain healthy for an entire season: How much the Dolphins’ success in 2023 will be tied to Tagovailoa’s availability.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, as he addressed a number of topics ahead of the team’s first practice session of organized team activities open to the media on Tuesday, offered a rousing endorsement for Tagovailoa’s work in the offseason.
“I’ve seen a guy that’s followed through with his words, as well as any young man I’ve come across in my career,” McDaniel said.
“Controlling the controllable” was one thing McDaniel noted of Tagovailoa’s approach leading into OTAs after an offseason where the quarterback even contemplated retirement following the multiple concussions.
Tagovailoa is in the midst of a key offseason after his 2022 season was cut short due to a second stint in concussion protocol. The fourth-year quarterback selected with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 draft has worked to strengthen his body early in the offseason and taken jiu-jitsu courses to better brace himself for the types of falls that have resulted in his head trauma on the field.
In getting Tagovailoa to participate in jiu-jitsu, McDaniel credited a collective effort from within the organization in the offseason for the outside-the-box training method.
“It’s a lot of strategic falling that is patterned after things that happened to our quarterbacks during the season,” McDaniel said. “The master of jiu-jitsu had to study some game tape to understand how he is falling, where the impact points were and what we can do to help correct it.”
McDaniel noted that, among the learnings, core strength is vital toward minimizing damage when going to the ground.
In 13 starts in 2022, Tagovailoa led the NFL with a 105.5 passer rating and 8.9 yards per pass attempt. He threw 25 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. The Dolphins lost four of the five starts he missed, including the playoff elimination in Buffalo during the wild-card round, and fell in a late September Thursday night game at Cincinnati where he left early, taken off the field on a stretcher following one of his concussions.
Concerning the NFL’s new rule allowing three quarterbacks on game days if the first two are injured, which was approved Monday at the league meeting, McDaniel said he’s “all for it.” The Dolphins nearly brushed up against that situation multiple times during the 2022 season and had to start three different quarterbacks amid injuries to Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, with Skylar Thompson also seeing starts.
With veteran offensive lineman and former first-round pick Isaiah Wynn signed recently, McDaniel indicated he sees Wynn, who has played left and right tackle and left guard, as a versatile lineman that can factor into a number of positions along Miami’s offensive line.
“He’s getting work at several spots and has the opportunity to win some playing time at several spots,” the coach said, “but it’s also, there’s only five players that play each down and overall, I know the collection of the offensive line is best served in this current environment.”
McDaniel noted that the Dolphins are moving players around defensively, looking for versatility in new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme.
Among those, outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel is seeing time at inside linebacker.
“Position flexibility allows you to have an extra human being at each position on game day,” McDaniel said. “It’s beneficial to a guy we thought, led by Vic and just our entire defensive staff, he was at the point in his career where he could handle that.”
McDaniel said Van Ginkel could use some of his skills in identification in picking up protections and understanding rush patterns to his benefit playing off the ball.
“It’s advantageous for us, tough for the opponent, so sounds like a win.”
Cornerback Trill Williams moving to safety is also a possibility that has been brought up.
Safety Brandon Jones (knee) and cornerback Nik Needham (Achilles) are both working to return from season-ending injuries in 2022.
McDaniel’s update: “I see Brandon and Nik every day. When I say diligent, that’s what their days are. I feel good about where they’re at right now.”
McDaniel, who has now become a mainstay courtside during the Miami Heat’s playoff run, has been inspired by South Florida’s basketball and hockey franchise, the Florida Panthers, both being one win away from finals berths entering Tuesday.
“How cool is that for South Florida sports? Just in general, riding the 2023, but specifically, the Heat and the Panthers just doing a lot of things that people said they couldn’t do, which I very much appreciate and we are definitely taking note,” he said.
