Tua has ‘full trust in myself’ despite playoff ouster

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has a lot to think about this offseason, particularly after his team’s 26-7 loss Saturday to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC wild-card round.

His upcoming contract negotiation, for the time being, is not at the forefront of his mind.

As he enters the final year of his rookie contract, Tagovailoa said he is not worried about getting an extension this offseason and that he feels confident in what he brings to the Dolphins’ franchise.

“I don’t feel any pressure at all. I have full trust in myself,” he said. “I have full trust in what I’m capable of doing for our organization, but outside of that, we’re focusing on tonight and what happened. We’re going to simmer on this and see what we can do to get better from it.”

After a 2022 season in which he suffered two concussions and missed five games, including Miami’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa’s health was a focal point entering the 2023 season. He spent the offseason building muscle and training in a breakfall jiu-jitsu program to essentially learn how to fall and prevent hitting his head on the ground — which caused both concussions in 2022.

Tagovailoa’s offseason training worked; he started all 17 games for the Dolphins this season and led the NFL in passing yards with 4,624 while setting career highs in passing yards, touchdowns (29) and completion percentage (69.3). He was named as the AFC’s Pro Bowl starting quarterback for the first time in his career.

But the Dolphins’ offense, which finished second in the NFL in points per game with 29.2, faltered down the stretch of the regular season, as did its quarterback.

Tagovailoa threw four touchdowns against five interceptions in Miami’s final three games, including Saturday’s loss to the Chiefs. In his playoff debut against Kansas City, he completed 20 of 39 passes for 199 yards — 53 of which came on a touchdown pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill early in the second quarter — with one touchdown and one interception.

The Dolphins averaged 304.6 yards across their final three games, nearly a 100-yard drop-off from the 401.3 yards they averaged over the entire regular season.

“I would say there’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Tagovailoa said when asked about the 2023 season. “A lot of guys that started the season out with us and then weren’t able to finish the season with us. So a lot of ups and downs with the injuries. But for our team, we never want to use any of those things as an excuse and we’re not going to use any of that as an excuse.”

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel declined to single Tagovailoa out as the root cause of Miami’s offensive struggles, saying everyone needed to improve entering his third offseason with the team.

“I know he made some good plays tonight,” McDaniel said. “I know there’s plays that he wants to have back, and there’s some calls that I made that I liked and there was definitely some that I want to have back — and I think that goes across the board. There was a lot of really good things and we’ve all learned to have high expectations for that unit, and seven points isn’t good enough.

“We’ll have to live with that and learn from that as we try to take another step.”

Tagovailoa has one year remaining on his rookie deal, worth $23.17 million in 2024. Three other quarterbacks from Tagovailoa’s 2020 draft class signed contract extensions last offseason.

The Cincinnati Bengals signed Joe Burrow to a five-year deal worth $275 million in September, while the Los Angeles Chargers signed Justin Herbert to a five-year, $262 million extension in July. Jalen Hurts inked a five-year, $255 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in April.