All you need to know is Tua Tagovailoa looked great Saturday until — he didn’t.
Until his last pass.
The one where he waited too long, then looked too long, then threw a ball with his so-so arm strength into double coverage and was intercepted in the end zone.
So there’s work to be done. Just as everyone knows. Still, that’s progress, right? Just as everyone knew, too. Two nice steps forward and one throw back. That was his first preseason workout in completing 8-of-11 passes for 99 yards and that interception.
In other words, it was all there on the table — the improvement seen in practice, the comfort in a second season, the reasons why Tagovailoa will become the player this franchise needs … and a throw that says we’re not there yet.
And let me say this before going any further: I don’t know if he’s The Man. Neither do you. Neither do the Dolphins, no matter their public patter. That’s what’s so silly about this developed fault line between the Tua Brigade and the Never Tua-ers.
Chicago took the wrapper of rookie quarterback Justin Fields Sunday and you saw the foot speed and strong arm. Can he make that work in the NFL? With Tua, the question goes the other way. He’s not fleet of foot or strong of arm. Can he make the intangibles - leadership, maturity, field command - work more for him?
In a normal first preseason game, the focus might be how the Dolphins defense didn’t allow Chicago a first down until the final minute of the half. Or whether the Dolphins still have short-yardage issues after starting second-and-goal from the 1-yard line and running back Malcolm Brown going backwards 2 yards in the next two downs to settle for a field goal.
In another year, there might also be a louder debate if top draft pick Jaylen Waddle should return punts. He returned Saturday’s first punt for 24 yards. You saw the electricity. Then Jakeem Grant showed how he’s made it this far by returning the second punt 34 yards. The punt return is covered, folks.
But this year is all about Tua so this first preseason game was, too. His deep pass to Gesicki? That’s something the offense lacked last year. Tagovailoa only had six passes over 25 yards in 2020. There, right on the second drive, was a 50-yard pass in a mismatch of Gesicki against Chicago linebacker Alec Ogletree.
Was that a new wrinkle in the new offense? You looked for signs that probably weren’t there in an opening preseason game. One gripe of deposed offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, for instance, was Tua was more effective out of a two-tight-end set. Five of the opening six Dolphins plays were with one tight end and three receivers. Again, stay tuned down the line.
This wasn’t a day to see the forest. It was for the trees. Individual play. Specific development. On Tua’s third drive, he threw to receiver Mack Hollins for 15 yards, then tight end Durham Smythe for 11 more. Myles Gaskin and Brown made catches.
It was a plodding drive, 13 plays and 54 yards, but this is an offense without a few veteran receivers like DeVante Parker and Will Fuller. Tagovailoa kept the offense moving. That was the story. Then came the play that stole some of the glitter.
First down. Chicago 14-yard line. Tua had tight end Adam Shaheen open briefly — and briefly is all you get in the NFL in the red zone. By the time he threw Chicago had two defenders around Shaheen. Dan Marino’s arm couldn’t have thrown into that tight window back in the day. Tua’s arm had no chance.
Chicago safety DeAndre Houston-Carson stepped in front Shaheen for an easy interception. It would have been a costly one, too, if this Saturday in August was a Sunday in September. But we’re not there yet. We’re about what’s better and what has to get better.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores said he liked how the offense moved the ball.
“At the end of the day we didn’t finish drives well enough,” he said.
Progress? It was there for Tua on Saturday. Work to be done? Yep, that, too. This first game showed the progress of Tua entering his second season, just as you’d expect. It also showed as you also would expect — there’s no conclusion on who he is.
