Tannehill, now 30, says he feels 25.
“I feel like I have a lot of good football left in front of me and just want to be the best I can this year ...” Ryan Tannehill
DAVIE – Quarterback Ryan Tannehill turned 30 years old Friday. But he said he doesn’t feel, well, old, a designation that isn’t far away for 30-year-old professional athletes.
“I feel great,” he said after Monday’s practice. “I feel great. I was telling somebody the other day, I feel like I’m 25, but 30 just sounds old.”
Tannehill has never made a Pro Bowl but he did (practically) lead the Dolphins to a playoff berth in 2016, before sustaining a season-ending knee injury that December.
But coach Adam Gase said he doesn’t necessarily consider Tannehill a late bloomer.
“I don’t know, I mean he has had good seasons in the past,” Gase said. “I don’t even know how many times he has thrown for 4,000 yards (twice). It seems like before I got here there were a lot of positives that were going on. I thought he did a good job in 2016, and put us in position to win games. He figured out what was best for us and how to manage the offense and play complementary football with the defense.
“Last year, we thought we were heading in the right direction and then we lose him for the season. Now, he seems to keep getting better. I guess I look at 30 now and it doesn’t seem — for quarterbacks — it doesn’t. … How many guys do we have that are 39, 40 and they’re MVPs of the league?”
As for Tannehill, who had a career-best 93.5 passer rating in 2016, including a blistering 100.1 passer rating in his final eight games, he said he thinks he’s got plenty of good football remaining. But he said he’s not certain exactly where he is in his career.
“I’m just trying to get better,” he said. “I feel like I have a lot of good football left in front of me and just want to be the best I can this year and we’ll focus on what’s after that then.”