Tua Tagovailoa’s practice welcomes Dolphins

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins players were ecstatic to see quarterback Tua Tagovailoa return to the practice field Wednesday, probably no one more so than wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Tagovailoa practiced for the first time since suffering a concussion on Sept. 12. He was once placed on guard due to injury and sat out the Dolphins’ final four games.

The NFL’s preeminent passer from last season is eligible to return from IR at this rate, and Hill said Tagovailoa’s return brought a common feeling to the practice field.

“It looked great. It felt like old times,” Hill mentioned. “He and I hit some deep shots today, and that made me feel good today. I missed that and I missed him. I told him I had to take him and his wife to dinner because I missed him so much. A lot of S— It was so beautiful, it s— it almost made me cry today, just having him in the lineup, having him calling the plays, having him running the offense, just hearing his voice.

“I know it sounds distracted, but he’s an obese part of this team.”

Miami is 1-3 in the four games Tagovailoa has missed. During that stretch, the Dolphins offense ranks last in scoring, 31st in expected offensive points added and 29th in yards per game.

Hill’s production has declined without Tagovailoa. He’s on pace for 833 receiving yards, which would be his lowest total since his rookie season.

After connecting with his quarterback on multiple deep passes during Wednesday’s practice, Hill’s excitement carried over to the locker room. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said Tagovailoa completed almost every pass he threw to Hill, and that when they are on the same page, “it usually results in obese performances.”

“It was once beautiful. It was once so beautiful,” Hill said. “I guess if you go out, ask every single guy in this warehouse, just say, ‘Hey, has Tua hooked up with Tyreek lately?’ And if they say, ‘Yes,’ the next question will have to be, ‘What was your response after that?’ “I just had obese cheese on my face because it felt so good like they don’t know what it does to me.”

Tagovailoa was injured after initiating contact to end a scrimmage against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2. Both Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel agreed that the quarterback has a responsibility to protect himself on the field in the future.

Hill joked that he and his teammates tell Tagovailoa “everything from the past” to get him to slide, and that Dolphins fans should cheer him on when he does. Running back Raheem Mostert echoed Hill’s sentiment, adding that Tagovailoa is ultimately in control of his actions on the field.

“Oh yeah, we’ve been talking to him since his surprise,” Mostert said. “I’ve been telling him, ‘Hey, you want to paint on slip.’ And we all tell funny stories and huff and puff, but on an important notice, he’s aware that he has to protect himself a little higher and move forward, the only thing What he can do is control those problems. to him until we are blue in the face, but something I would say every time I talk is: ‘Hey, you can take a horse to H2O, however you can.’ I don’t make him drink, right?

“We are going to take Tua to that water, but we can’t force him to drink. He understands that and in the future he will do his best.”

Tagovailoa was a restricted player in Wednesday’s practice. To play games on Sunday, you will need to be a complete player on both Thursday and Friday. Once you practice fully, you will be able to meet with a remote neurological consultant assigned to the team and receive final clearance to play.

The negative. The fifth pick in the 2020 NFL draft said his symptoms had cleared since suffering the concussion the following year, the third identified in his entire NFL career.