When Tua Tagovailoa told his parents on Tuesday that the Miami Dolphins had decided to start him at quarterback, he said they were excited, but skeptical.
“They didn’t believe me for a little bit,” Tagovailoa said. “I think my dad kind of joked about it. He’s like, ‘After two plays, after two throws, they want to put you in now?’”
Although the Dolphins used the fifth selection in the NFL Draft on April 23 to obtain Tagovailoa, the former Alabama All-American didn’t make his NFL debut until 2:27 remained in Miami’s sixth game of the season -- Sunday’s 24-0 victory over the New York Jets. Tagovailoa took five snaps, completed both his passes and figured when Miami came out of its bye week to play the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 1, he’d still be the backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“You never know when your opportunity is given,” Tagovailoa said during a Wednesday press conference. "When Coach Flo (Brian Flores) called me, I thought it was like any other call. We usually watch film on Tuesdays, and so I thought he was calling because he wanted me to come up and watch some film. I usually get with him to watch film, but it was different.
“I just think that you need to be ready every time. Opportunities come and when they come, you’ve got to take them and run with them.”
DOLPHINS COACH EXPLAINS DECISION TO PROMOTE TUA TAGOVAILOA TO STARTING QUARTERBACK
Tagovailoa wasn’t the only one surprised by the quarterback change. Fitzpatrick was, too, even though he knew it was going to happen at some point.
“I was shocked by it,” Fitzpatrick said during a Wednesday press conference. "It definitely caught me off-guard. It was a hard thing for me to hear yesterday, just kind of digesting the news. My heart was just heavy all day. It was heartbreaking for me. …
“We’ve talked in the past, me and you guys, about how I’m the placeholder and this eventually was going to happen. It was just a matter of kind of when, not if. It still just broke my heart yesterday. It was a tough thing for me to hear and to now have to deal with, but I’m going to do my best for it.”
Knowing that he got the job at Fitzpatrick’s expense took some of the joy out of the promotion for Tagovailoa.
“I was very excited,” Tagovailoa said. "That’s news that I think anyone would love to hear, being named the starter at any position.
“But at the same time, I also felt for Fitz as well, and me and Fitz had a conversation just about all of this. But like I’ve continued to say, although it kind of hurts me in a way to see Fitz hurt, I’m just very, very lucky to have someone like Fitz in my corner regardless of the situation we’re in right now. I hate to say it like this, but it is like this: It’s like a father-and-son thing.”
A 16-year veteran, Fitzpatrick has started games for eight NFL teams, including 19 since joining the Dolphins before the 2018 season. About a month from his 38th birthday, Fitzpatrick said he couldn’t help but wonder after being benched if his 145th NFL start on Sunday would turn out to be his last one.
“Is this it?” Fitzpatrick said. “Was that my last game as an NFL player in terms of being a starter and going out there and playing? You just kind of go through all those different scenarios. I’ve been a starter. I’ve been benched all kinds of different ways, but this one more so than any of them -- I think this organization and what we’ve been through the last year and a half, this was kind of the first place other than Buffalo where I just felt fully committed and invested and felt like it was my team, and so to have that, I think that’s a lot of the reason my heart was so heavy yesterday. But that’s the direction that the organization is going, and I’ve just got to accept it.”
Tagovailoa also was reflective after the news. His first NFL start will come 15 days short a year from the crushing end of his career at Alabama, when he went down with a dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture against SEC West rival Mississippi State.
“It’s definitely been a journey,” Tagovailoa said. “I definitely think of that injury when I got hurt and then the process leading up to being able to walk, being able to do football drills, being able to just do things in general. I definitely do reflect on that process that I went through, and I’m definitely blessed to still be here and able to play the game I grew up dreaming to play.”
The Dolphins are making their quarterback change after winning their past two games to reach 3-3. That’s one game out of the lead in the AFC East for a franchise that has been to the playoffs once in the past 11 seasons and twice in the past 18.
“My goals are to do whatever I can do to help this team become successfully, especially our offense,” Tagovailoa said. “Everyone knows Fitz has done a tremendous job. I don’t know. I just feel like I’m definitely lucky. I’m blessed to be in the situation I’m in where I can continue to learn from a guy like Fitz, and then also having the mind of (offensive coordinator) Chan (Gailey), him helping kind of put me in the offense, I guess, in like a good situation. I think that’s what’s going to be important the next couple of the weeks and the entire season.”
Fitzpatrick said despite his disappointment, he will be in the rookie’s corner all the way.
“This profession is interesting in that I basically got fired yesterday,” Fitzpatrick said, "and then my day of work today consisted of me in Zoom meetings listening to the guy that fired me, locked in a spaced-out room with my replacement for four hours. There aren’t a whole lot of jobs that are like that. But I know how difficult it is to play the quarterback position, and I know that that room is so important to the guy that’s playing in terms of everybody having your back and pulling in the same direction, so today’s a day to digest a little bit and we’ll get away for the bye a little bit.
“But once this thing starts up again, I’ve got to do my best for Tua to help him out because there’s two separate situations here. One is Tua. And I want him to do well. I think he’s a great kid, and I think he has a really bright future. And the other one is my feelings and just kind of what I’m going through, and that has to be separate from when I walk into this building and help him out.”
Tagovailoa said the working with the veteran had gotten him ready to be an NFL quarterback.
“I think with having someone like Fitz, you don’t just think, like, within what you know,” Tagovailoa said. “You start thinking of what other people are doing, the defense, how they align, stack formations, how fronts can dictate coverages, just things that I didn’t really need to worry about in college, I think of now. And it really is about the little things. It’s just, like I said, it’s just really a big blessing that I have someone like him, and it’s not like it stops here. It’s a continuous competition with Fitz, and what’s so cool about it is that I can continue to grow and continue to learn from him through this process.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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