Dolphins are hoping recent losses will help right offensive wrongs
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Tua Tagovailoa believes the Miami Dolphins’ recent losses have taught them lessons their early season success didn’t.
Ahead of Miami’s pivotal division matchup against Buffalo, Tagovailoa said the Dolphins are learning the importance of putting bad drives behind them and not letting incompletions or miscommunication dictate how a game progresses.
“The next play mentality definitely needs to show itself more evident for us with the way we play offensively,” Tagovailoa said. “Because of the success that we found early in the year, we really haven’t been given that opportunity.”
Miami heads to Buffalo having beat the Bills in Week 3, but the Dolphins could face frigid temperatures for Saturday night’s matchup.
“I can speak for myself, it’s a mindset thing,” Tagovailoa said. “And if I’m too focused and worried about if it’s too cold, can I grab the ball, can I not, then I would say I’m focused on the wrong things. It would be hard to play that way going over there against a really good
team.”
The Dolphins managed just 34 points and four TDs over the past two games, atypical for an offense that entered Week 12 averaging 386.7 yards and 25.6 points per game. Tagovailoa has been surprisingly inaccurate, completing just 28 of 61 passes in the past two games.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he felt players were pressing
and playing outside the offensive scheme in their losses to San Francisco and the Los Angeles Chargers, and that the offensive woes have resulted from poor execution, not poor preparation. He has emphasized the best thing the Dolphins can do about their recent two losses is learn from them.
“President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” Griner said. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.”
Whelan’s brother David said last week in a statement that he was “so glad” for Griner’s release but also disappointed for his family. He credited the White House with giving the
Whelan family advance notice and said he did not fault officials for making the deal.
“The Biden administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen,” he said.
Griner also thanked the military staff and medical team in Texas, where she was receiving care after returning to the U.S. last week. She wrote that she would “transition home to enjoy the holidays with my family” but did not say where.
While WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was going to give Griner all the time she needed to decide whether she wanted to play basketball again, Griner made it clear that: “I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon.”
“Amazing timing for her to be home before the holidays,” Engelbert told the AP in an interview Thursday. “It’s a great story for all who know her.”
The Mercury open the season on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19. The team’s first home game is two days later against the Chicago Sky.