Dolphins “excited” about the future with Tua Tagovailoa

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Few are sold on Tua Tagovailoa as a franchise quarterback. At least not yet. But the only people who matter believe in Tagovailoa and place their future in his hands.

Tagovailoa will have the chance to prove the Dolphins right.

“We pay a lot of attention to Tua, but I think he has made a lot of progress during the season. I’m excited about the future with him, ”Dolphins coach Brian Flores told ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe Thursday. “He’s a young player, talented, bouncy from the hip. I think it’s a big offseason for him. This jump from year one to year two will be important, as with all rookies.

The Dolphins have the third overall pick, a pick they got from the Texans, which has raised questions about whether they could draft a first-round quarterback for a second straight year. The Cardinals did this by drafting Josh Rosen 10th overall in 2018 and Kyler Murray No.1 in 2019.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier tried to cover up any potential controversy over the quarterback, saying, “Yu, we’re very happy about that. He’s our starting quarterback.

Flores played down a story from the start of the week that some of Tagovailoa’s teammates have doubts about the rookie quarterback.

“Criticism comes with NFL territory at every level,” Flores told Wolfe. “Our team did a good job ignoring these things. Anyone who has seen the Dolphins this year has seen that we are a very tight knit group and I think we still are. The idea that there is some form of fracture is exaggerated. I thought there was a lot of support throughout the locker room.

“My message to the team has been to ignore the noise and the people inside the building will tell you the truth. Without all the information, how do you determine what is going on? “

Tagovailoa went 6-3 as a team starter, completing 64.1% of his passes for 1,814 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

“We have learned that he is in good health. He still has a lot of his mobility. He’s precise, ”Flores said. “In the Arizona game, it takes us back to the fourth quarter. He brought us back to the Kansas City game. He also hasn’t performed as well in other games. It had bright spots and less bright spots. It’s the life of a recruit. If he continues to learn, study, stay healthy, get stronger, work on his footwork and eye progression and pick up where he left off, I think we’ll be happy to its improvement.