Tua Tagovailoa addresses issues to avoid another bad game and benching

The question is not, as has been asked many times this week, whether Tua Tagovailoa may be benched again at any point the remainder of this season as he was late in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos.

That’s not it.

“For me,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday, “there’s no looking behind me, or to the left or to the right. It’s what I can do to help our guys to be successful.”

So the more important question is whether the Miami Dolphins’ young quarterback can overcome the shortcomings that led to him struggling in that game and eventually to being benched.

The answer to that question will determine, well, everything.

Because everything Tagovailoa struggled with against the Broncos is now on tape for opposing NFL defensive coordinators to consider. And that could affect Sunday’s game at the New York Jets, but it really goes beyond that to teams such as Las Vegas, Kansas City, Buffalo and others who have better personnel and can more readily take advantage of a developing quarterback.

And now you want to know what are the shortcomings.

Shortcoming No. 1: NFL sources who have watched Tagovailoa’s tape believe he doesn’t always quickly get through his progression of reads.

Because he’s new to the Miami offense, because he’s new to the NFL, because he’s still familiarizing himself with Dolphins receivers, Tagovailoa is learning the intricacies of getting through his progression of reads.

He’s going through a learning curve.

“In all these performances, there’s always things I can continue to get better at, and that’s day in and day out, every day of the week,” Tagovailoa said. “And how you do that is you continue to get the reps you need in practice, you know, more games under your belt, just being able to play in these tough games and whatnot.

“That’s really how you get better at those things.”

Another issues is sometimes Tagovailoa has felt the need to come off his first read because he doesn’t believe the receiver is open when, in fact, the receiver probably should get a chance to make a play.

Let’s address the two issues:

▪ One: Tagovailoa tried to make all the correct reads against the Broncos, but sometimes it took a while. And that valuable time was not always available against a Denver defense that put on a very good pass rush.

The result was six sacks of Tagovailoa.

“I think the biggest thing for me is I need to be better at if it’s not there, I need to be better at trying to extend plays and our guys trying to get open and find holes and we get better with our scramble drills, if that makes sense,” Tagovailoa said.

▪ Two: Throwing the football to a receiver who seems covered is an individual decision quarterbacks make. Some veterans, such as backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, might see the same picture with the receiver and defensive back as Tagovailoa sees and still throw the football because he believes the receiver will make the play.

Tagovailoa, meanwhile, might decide to hold the football to see if the receiver comes open or take time looking for another receiver.

Either way, this approach requires time and makes the young quarterback vulnerable to a sack.

Fitzpatrick, by the way, has been stressing to Tagovailoa to more often trust that receivers will make the play even when they seem covered.

“It’s not me playing like I’m scared or anything, it’s me trusting what I see,” Tagovailoa said. “If I don’t see the guy open, I’m not going to throw it. That’s really how it’s been in the games and also in practice, too.

“A big deal with this is I have to take ownership with being disciplined about seeing things for myself, as far as the film and looks that [the defense] gives and whatnot.”

Tagovailoa didn’t often deal with this situation at Alabama. The Crimson Tide receiver corps when Tagovailoa played there included Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, and DeVonta Smith.

Those four college players would’ve made a great NFL receiver corps and are better than Miami’s receiver corps right now. And they were rarely well covered by college defensive backs, so Tagovailoa could often make a throw to the first receiver he looked for when he played in college.

That’s not the case in the NFL, where opposing defensive backs are more talented and his receivers aren’t all early-round draft picks.

▪ The fixes: Miami’s receivers have to get open quicker and more consistently.

Then Miami’s pass blocking has to do a better job holding off defenders while Tagovailoa goes from receiver A to B to C in his progression to pick out one to throw to.

To overcome all this and get through the young quarterback’s learning curve, the Dolphins have sometimes been operating by throwing the football to the first read on quick passes.

“They’re doing a lot of things with the [run-pass option and getting the ball out quick,” said New York Jets coach Adam Gase.

The thinking is if the receiver wins the short route quickly, Tagovailoa’s great accuracy will get him the football and he will not get pummeled by a defender in the process because the ball is out of his hands quickly.

Except that’s not sustainable.

Because, according to the league sources, some defensive coaches are now aware of this. So they’re going to try to counter it.

The Broncos, for example, wanted to make Tagovailoa either throw quickly and short or try to find his second or third receiver options.

So the Broncos tried to take away DeVante Parker.

They made Tagovailoa throw to Parker short or find someone else.

The result was clear to everyone with eyes as Tagovailoa completed three passes to Parker for only 18 yards. And when he held the football looking for Parker to get through a deeper route or looking for other receivers in the progression, the Denver rush got to the young quarterback for those sacks.

It was a different story with Fitzpatrick in the game. He also completed three passes to Parker, but the gain was 43 yards. Fitzpatrick, in other words, found time by moving around in the pocket or threw it to Parker even when he was closely covered.

(It must be said, even this approach can be dangerous as Fitzpatrick threw an interception on Miami’s final offensive play when he forced a desperation pass to Parker.)

All of this is what will determine whether Flores finds himself needing to turn to Fitzpatrick again.

Flores, by the way, has not publicly discarded the possibility of another benching, but he’s not embracing the idea, either.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Tua,” Flores said. “A couple of weeks ago, we were [trailing 31-24] in Arizona and he took it down the field and scored. It’s a gut. It’s a feel. Yeah, it was a gut thing in that particular moment. We just felt like Fitz gave us the best chance in that particular game. But Tua is the starter.

“Again, he’s young and he’s developing and he’s done some good things – I would say a lot of good things. Hopefully he continues to develop. This week is going to be a tough challenge against Gregg [Williams] and the multiple looks that he gives quarterbacks and really offenses in general.”