Despite a monsoon coming down of the first day of Dolphins mandatory minicamp, the conversation was fixated around the performance of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa struggled in the passing game, which would be putting things nicely as he threw a total of five interceptions throughout the day.
The former Alabama star was immediately hit with heavy criticism from fans and analysts alike on top of the question marks he left from his rookie season.
On Tuesday, Tagovailoa took the field with a desire to erase the concerns from a day ago, and judging by the reactions from the media in attendance he did just that.
Tagovailoa today: 6 TDs, 0 INTs
— Jacob Meshel (@fins_dynasty) June 16, 2021
Tua Tagovailoa was having a much better practice today in our time watching practice outside. Crisp, accurate passes. Still aggressive taking downfield crossing shots and no INTs outside.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) June 16, 2021
So to wrap up, Tua concludes today’s #Dolphins minicamp session with a pair of touchdowns to DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle during two-minute drill. He could’ve been quicker with some red zone decisions, but overall a strong practice from Tagovailoa.
— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) June 16, 2021
#Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa just hit Jaylen Waddle in stride over the middle for a 50-yard touchdown. Waddle may have been marked down but he was jetting for the house. pic.twitter.com/ua1DorVDbX
— Safid Deen 💯💯💯💯 (@Safid_Deen) June 16, 2021
Due to more rain fall, the Dolphins opted to move practice indoors for the remainder of the day where the team continued to work on its redzone packages. Tagovailoa still had some areas of struggle, holding onto the ball for too long and waiting too long for players to get open.
But head coach Brian Flores is still encouraging his quarterback to remain aggressive, regardless of past performances.
“I don’t think Tua’s going to go into a shell,” Flores said to the media on Tuesday. “I tell him [after a practice like that] to continue being aggressive. The conversations are a lot of what we’ve already talked about here — use this time to practice pushing the ball downfield. Then we’ll make the adjustments and the corrections.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
