A former Dolphins offensive lineman didn’t hold back his opinions on Tua Tagovailoa following a brutal Week 1.
Richie Incognito, who played four of his 13 NFL seasons in Miami, was critical of the signal-caller’s recent play after the Dolphins were embarrassed, 33-8, by Daniel Jones and the Colts in Week 1.
Tagovailoa, 27, went 14 of 23 passing for 114 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions while getting sacked three times in the loss. The Dolphins did not score until the fourth quarter as Jones and the Colts kept piling on.
“Tua is ass,” Incognito said during an appearance on Wednesday’s “The Arena Show.” “He looks bad. I mean, he is ass. He looks bad.”
He pointed out that the offense had no rhythm or timing and Tagovailoa wasn’t taking deep shots downfield to Tyreek Hill, who had just four catches for 48 yards.
The QB was also unable to get his other star receiver Jaylen Waddle the ball (four catches, 30 yards).
“They’re running all these crazy offensive plays and nothing seems to work,” Incognito said.
What makes it worse in Incognito’s mind is that fans know Tagovailoa has it in him and that he can perform at an elite level in head coach Mike McDaniel’s offense, based on his 2023 season.
Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to an 11-6 record and was named to the Pro Bowl after throwing for a career-high 4,624 yards, 29 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions for a 101.1 passer rating.
“Tua hasn’t been able to live up to half that,” Incognito said. “When Tua proves he can do it in 2023, with the same offensive coordinator, this genius, McDaniel and he doesn’t do it now, it stinks even more.”
He acknowledged that Tagovailoa has dealt with at least three documented concussions during his NFL career and that Miami has other “systemic” issues inside its locker room. But there was some regression in Tagovailoa’s play last season, as he went 6-5 with 2,867 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
His performance in Week 1 this season was nowhere near what the Dolphins need from him.
“I think I saw quarterback play that was less than to be desired,” McDaniel said during his media availability on Wednesday. “Which Tua absolutely knows … he’s the captain and the franchise quarterback, and everybody kind of fell victim to something similar. I also know that he’s very much, like most quarterbacks, to be honest, where you’re putting a lot of work into something and [it’s] your first time doing it for a collective four quarters in months, you’re not at your best.”
Former Dolphin and current Colts cornerback Xavien Howard said the key was trying to frazzle Tagovailoa by forcing him into uncomfortable situations
“We knew the guy, he gets the ball out pretty quick,” Howard told reporters Monday. “And once we take away his first read, I feel like it’s panic mode after that. And it showed yesterday. We took away his first read and he was trying to get rid of the ball real quick.”
