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Mike McDaniel discusses Tua Tagovailoa’s halftime speech, Dolphins QB’s leadership after comeback win
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Mike McDaniel pointed to a animated halftime speech from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as a key turning point in the Miami Dolphins’ come-from-behind 20-17 Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“It was a cool moment because it was genuine and it was not anything but constructive,” the Dolphins head coach said.
McDaniel noted that he was drawing up plays in the locker room on the team’s whiteboard when Tagovailoa addressed his teammates, adding that he was impressed by Tagovailoa’s leadership in the moment — especially with the Dolphins being down 17-7 at the break.
“I was really pumped to hear him constructively lead,” he said. “It wasn’t ‘let’s win’ or ‘let’s make plays’. It was ‘let’s adhere to our standard’, which is what a captain and a franchisee, a franchise quarterback have to be that voice to echo. So it was cool to have him beat me to the punch of something that if he wouldn’t have said I probably would have.”
Tagovailoa was 23-of-37 for 338 yards and a touchdown. He also had an 11-yard carry.
The Dolphins host the Bills on Thursday night.
https://twitter.com/5ReasonsSports/status/1832886510279909410
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
