Dolphins' Mike McDaniel praises Tua Tagovailoa's season, says on field success is 'not surprising'

More than half of the NFL season is now in the past, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins have enjoyed a mostly successful stretch so far.

The Dolphins are 6-3 and in contention for the AFC East title. Tagovailoa has been effective this year and is leading the league with a 115.9 passer rating. Despite missing two games due to a head injury, Tagovailoa has 15 touchdown passes on the season.

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Since he returned to the field from the concussion in Week 7, he is completing just over 70% of his passes and has not thrown an interception. 

He has also been delivering the ball to receivers quickly since his return and has only been sacked twice. 

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When head coach Mike McDaniel was asked the quarterback performance this year, he did not hesitate to offer his praises and noted that Tagovailoa is handling success well.

"Do you doubt that he’s handling it well? Let’s motivate that guy," McDaniel quipped, tongue-in-cheek. "You just have a feeling about people when you’re forecasting uncharted territory. You don’t totally know, but you feel like you know."

McDaniel went on to say that Tagovailoa's production has not shocked him.

"Anything that’s happening with him isn’t a surprise to me. It would’ve been a surprise if it hadn’t, just because the day-in, day-out work that I’m witnessing and the work that his teammates do and how his rapport is with them and all of that. 

"But it doesn’t surprise me how he’s handled success because literally it has no distinction from when we first started working, before Game 1 and training camp and OTAs. And that’s awesome. That’s what I would’ve guessed."

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McDaniel added he has been pleased to see the payoff.

"[H]e knows exactly who he is," McDaniel said. "He knows exactly what he needs to do to do his portion of his job well. And he’s not deviating from that at all. Very cool and good to see, but not surprising in the least."

Tagovailoa's next test will happen on Sunday when the Dolphins host the Cleveland Browns.