Tua Tagovailoa Throws 5 Interceptions on 1st Day of Dolphins' Minicamp
June 15, 2021
Day 1 of the Miami Dolphins' mandatory minicamp did not go well for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who threw five interceptions in heavy rain on Tuesday.
Per Armando Salguero, Adam H. Beasley and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the interceptions occurred within the first hour of the session.
Cornerbacks Jamal Perry, Trill Williams and Nik Needham and safeties Nate Holley and Clayton Fejedelem all got picks off Tagovailoa, who went No. 5 overall to Miami in the 2019 NFL draft.
Linebacker Sam Eguavoen tipped Tagovailoa's first interception, which landed in Perry's hands. Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki dropped a pass that ricocheted to Fejedelem.
The Miami Herald trio noted some good Tagovailoa passes, including a deep ball to rookie Jaylen Waddle and a slant to Will Fuller.
The ex-Alabama star acknowledged his mistakes while noting the quarterback room's aggressive mentality Tuesday in addition to the fact that minicamp is a good time to make those errors with the season still three months away.
ESPN's Cameron Wolfe provided comments.
"Obviously, you want to be smart, but if there's a time to make mistakes, now is the time to make mistakes," Tagovailoa said. "We're just seeing what we can fit into holes, what we can throw into coverages, come into the film room and then learn from it."
He also noted that the quarterbacks were attempting to be aggressive amid the torrential downpour:
"Today the emphasis for us, quarterbacks, we wanted to be aggressive today within the pass game. We wanted to see if we could fit throws in, see what throws we could make under these conditions. We wanted to push the ball vertical down the field. There were some plays that didn't go our way, but those are plays we can take away from in the film room."
Tagovailoa completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns, five interceptions and 6.3 yards per pass attempt in 10 games last year.
He'll enter the season as the Dolphins' starting quarterback after splitting time in 2020 with signal-caller Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has since left via free agency for the Washington Football Team.