‘WHAT JUST HAPPENED?’

Dolphins-Tagovailoa relationship gets off to less-than-ideal start at combine

INDIANAPOLIS — Tua Tagovailoa’s meeting with the Miami Dolphins during the NFL combine this week left the young quarterback wondering whether the team is the right fit for him.

After all the Tank-for-Tua talk surrounding him and the Dolphins the past 13 months, Tagovailoa believed they would have the same amount of excitement as him for their first official meeting Wednesday.

Instead, Tagovailoa was surprised that he received a bit of a cold shoulder.

He left feeling uncertain about the Dolphins and their desire for him to be their next franchise quarterback, a source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday.

Despite the less-than-ideal first impression, Tagovailoa still wants to play for the Dolphins and hopes Miami can execute a draft-day trade to move from the No. 5 pick to land him.

Among Tagovailoa’s thoughts after the meeting: “What just happened?” “How am I supposed to feel like it’s the right place for me if they act like that?”

“Maybe they are after Justin Herbert.”

“No one was excited,” the source added. “They didn’t give any indication of ‘he’s their guy.’ He felt weird, like is this a joke?

“He’s not turned off, but it was just weird.”

While news of Tagovailoa’s impression may be unique, his meeting was on par with many others the Dolphins have had with draft prospects and agents at the combine this week.

Dolphins coach Brian Flores is spearheading a stealthy operation with regard to the franchise’s thoughts and movements throughout the upcoming draft and free agency, and he does not want the result of Miami’s meetings to divulge any of the team’s intentions.

Also, Flores has also been known to create adversity in a

variety of ways to see how players respond in an effort to gauge their character and mental toughness, which could have been a tactic he used to test Tagovailoa during their first meeting together.

Tagovailoa’s initial impressions of the Dolphins still remains the same.

He believes they have a great owner in Steve Ross, great leadership in general manager Chris Grier, a “perfect” coach in Flores and optimism in new Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey being able to maximize Tagovailoa’s ability.

Tagovailoa also understands how NFL teams like the Dolphins operate, trying to keep their motives and player evaluations close to the vest.

Flores and Grier are tasked with altering the trajectory of the franchise this offseason. Miami hopes to do so by responsibly spending $100 million in salarycap space in free agency, which begins in the middle of March, to go along with the team’s 14 picks in April’s draft.

Among the challenges Flores and Grier face is landing a franchise quarterback to lead the way, something Tagovailoa believes he could be in Miami.

Still, the looming issue that could prevent the Dolphins from landing Tagovailoa remains.

Miami would likely have to make a draft-day trade with the Washington Redskins, who own the No. 2 pick, or the Detroit Lions, who own the No. 3 pick, to prevent any other interested teams from drafting Tagovailoa before them.

“It doesn’t change how he feels about Miami,” the source said. “Miami is the place for him.”

JOE ROBBINS/GETTY Tua Tagovailoa was surprised he received a bit of a cold shoulder when meeting with the Dolphins during the NFL scouting combine.