Mike McDaniel now gets positively “fired up” when Tua Tagovailoa makes a mistake. The Miami Dolphins coach says his reactions are recognition of the quarterback’s recently acquired ability to convert anger into fuel. McDaniel says the asset, gleaned from the likes of sports icons like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods, is “never going away” from the quarterback’s repertoire. “No one expects to be infallible, so then why commit to that? And I’m seeing it from Tua in an incredible fashion,” McDaniel, who led the Dolphins to a 9-3 start, said Thursday at a news conference.
“You want to talk about a coachable person — these are philosophical, psychological things. It’s one thing to hear it, but in the course of a year and a half, I was really fired up because he captured it. … He is locked in on the moment, and that’s what you have to be. That’s never going In the past, McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s frustration from errors, like interceptions, fumbles and missed reads, led to being overly self-critical, prompting pressure and leading to more miscues.
The coach worked closely with the fourth-year quarterback on how to transfer that energy into an endless supply of mental gasoline, ensuring that the Dolphins’ engine doesn’t stall. One of those coaching moments was caught on camera on the latest episode of Hard Knocks: In Season With the Miami Dolphins. Tagovailoa, who threw three interceptions in his two previous games, tossed another to cornerback Jalen Ramsey last week at practice.
McDaniel pulled the rattled quarterback aside and called the repetition “great.” It was another chance to rein in rage and turn turbulence into a stronger will to execute.
