According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tua Tagovailoa has been named as the Week 8 starter against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Miami Dolphins bye week is this week, week 7. Tua will have 2 weeks to prepare for the Los Angeles Rams.
Tua was medically cleared to play at the beginning of the NFL season, but the decision was made to start Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Tua impressed the Dolphins coaches and the fan base in his first NFL action on Sunday. He was inserted in the game at the end and played a little over two minutes.
Tua went 2-for-2 for 9 yards, but what was impressive was his decision making while under pressure and on 3rd down.
The game was a blowout, but Tua’s performance seemed to be enough for the coach to decide he should start.
The Dolphins fan base chanted “Tua” as he took the field for the first time, and Tua was taking it all in.
“I definitely could hear it. There’s nothing else playing in the stadium, so I could hear that… And that was awesome. But to just be out there with my teammates, being my first time, and getting the support and love from them, I think that was super awesome,” Tua said.
“And then you have a 16-year vet like Fitz, who has no animosity toward it as well, who’s just been supportive that entire time. Good drive, bad drive, he comes to the sideline and just talks through his process with why he did some things. I’m very fortunate to have a mentor like him who is just very encouraging on the field and then this guy is, like, he’s just very personable off the field as well,” Tua added.
Fitzpatrick has been playing well. He has the seventh-best QBR (79.6) in the NFL, and he has won his last two games in blowout fashion with a combined score of 67-17.
In six games Fitzpatrick passed for 1535 yards, with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Fitzpatrick stated in the offseason that he knew he was the “placeholder” for Tua.
I‘m sure Fitzpatrick won’t have a problem finding another job if he plans to extend his career beyond the Dolphins.
Tua has recovered from his dislocated right hip and posterior wall fracture that he suffered his last year in college. The injury was considered to be career-threatening, and it dropped Tua’s draft stock to the number five pick in the 2020 NFL draft (April).
In Tua’s three seasons at Alabama, he was the most efficient passer in college football history, and he came in the second half of the 2018 National Championship game against the Georgia Bulldogs and led his team to victory.
As a Bulldog fan the memory still burns a little.
Tua will be the 22nd starting QB for the Miami Dolphins post-Marino, and he is expected to be the savior of the franchise.
The Dolphins are currently 3-3 and they hope Tua will lead them to the playoffs. They feel Tua is more mobile, accurate, and he has more playmaking ability than Fitzpatrick.
I agree, but time will tell.
Tua Tagovailoa said he is ready to take advantage of this moment, and we look forward to watching his progression.
We wish Tua the best in his Week 8 start and in his career moving forward.
Source: ESPN
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