Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa has overcome distractions to play some of his best football

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovialoa was getting spitballs fired his way by defensive tackle and team jokester Christian Wilkins as he stood at the podium for his weekly Wednesday press conference.

Undeterred, Tagovailoa continued through his responses, as if the spitballs coming through a straw from the other side of a door Wilkins left slightly ajar were pass rushers speeding past him and he was stepping up in the pocket to deliver his answers — about his throwing accuracy, finger injury or status of his ribs.

While it may have been a fairly trivial matter, it was almost a microcosm of how Tagovailoa has played some of his best football in recent weeks despite a number of distractions that could’ve caused him to go the other way.

“It’s hard to rattle him,” said Dolphins quarterbacks coach Charlie Frye. “It really is. His focus and concentration, that is at a high level right now. And his makeup, he doesn’t let a lot of things bother him. Whatever that is — injuries, all the burdens that go along with being the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins — a lot of mental toughness that you’re seeing.”

Tagovailoa has missed five starts this season due to the two aforementioned injuries. Just a month ago, he was thrown into the middle of a saga with the Dolphins (5-7) heavily involved in trade talks for embattled Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson. If that would’ve materialized, he would’ve lost his hold on the franchise’s quarterbacking reins.

“It seems probably overwhelming to everyone else, but that’s the NFL,” Dolphins play-caller George Godsey said. “There’s always discussions that go on, injuries happen. Players get hurt on our team at other positions that you’re going to have to build relationships with guys playing new roles, and he’s done that.

“That’s a sign of him growing up as an NFL player. He’s a very mature kid, and it’s just a matter of being able to deal with the adversity.”

In the past two wins over the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, Tagovailoa posted a 108.3 and 108.7 quarterback rating, respectively. He was 54 of 64 (84.3%) for 503 yards, three touchdowns and one interception over the two games. The Panthers, by the way, entered Sunday with NFL’s top-ranked pass defense.

He had similar effectiveness when he entered in the second half of the missed start against the Baltimore Ravens prior to those two outings, going 8 of 13 for 158 yards and a rushing touchdown playing through the injured finger on his throwing hand in the upset victory.

“For me, the most important thing was the guys in the locker room,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday. “It wasn’t really the outside noise, what was going on around the building.”

He finally gave in to Wilkins’ increasingly pressing attempts to break him at the podium before wrapping up his thought, saying about distractions, “Just can’t worry about them.”

The Dolphins’ brass has noticed Tagovailoa’s improvements in this stretch run to his second NFL season that almost serves as an audition for whether the franchise will stick with him in the future or make a move for another quarterback in the offseason.

“There’s been a lot of positives,” Miami coach Brian Flores said. “He’s improved every week. I think he’s getting better every time he steps on to the practice field. He’s getting the reps from a preparation standpoint, and he’s doing better.”

Above all, Tagovailoa’s accuracy on his throws and ball placement has stood out. It’s something that was stressed to him in his very early quarterbacking days.

“Working out with my dad, that was imperative,” Tagovailoa recalled. “Everything I had to do had to be to his liking, so if the ball placement wasn’t where it should’ve been, then we do it again and we do it until we get it right. That goes with footwork, all of that.”

Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki thought back to a time in the preseason opener in Chicago where Tagovailoa impressed him by putting a pass low and away where only he could catch it. It was a moment where he really noticed Tagovailoa’s ball placement, and it has translated to the regular season and his current run.

“He’s going to throw a very catchable ball and he’s going to make the job easy for his receivers,” Gesicki said. “A lot of guys are making plays because of where he’s putting the ball.”

Added Jaylen Waddle, who caught a touchdown from Tagovailoa and a 57-yard catch and run over the middle: “He hits you when you’re in stride, so your run-after-catch ability is on display.”

Tagovailoa’s approach to putting the ball where it needs to be depends on the coverage.

“If it’s man, you never want to put it behind him. You never want to put it on him. You always want to lead him,” he said. “In zone, you’re just trying to beat the defensive guys in spots when you’re throwing. A lot of it has to do with timing.”

Tagovailoa added he no longer feels discomfort with the fractured finger on his throwing hand, nor does he think about his fractured ribs when playing.

As for the spitballing Wilkins, who always seems to be at the center of the team’s fun, whether it’s on-field celebrations or otherwise, he said Wednesday: “We’re playing a kids’ game and we get to call it work.”