{"id":182791,"date":"2024-07-25T11:30:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T15:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=182791"},"modified":"2024-07-24T17:26:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T21:26:06","slug":"tua-participated-in-camp-and-everyone-had-thoughts-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/25\/tua-participated-in-camp-and-everyone-had-thoughts-on-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Tua Participated in Camp and Everyone Had Thoughts on It"},"content":{"rendered":"

The veteran players for the Miami Dolphins<\/a> reported to the Baptist Health Training Complex Tuesday to start the last process before training camp. Everyone expected to participate arrived on time and ready to go. Including one player that has gripped the franchise all summer. <\/span>In the midst of contract negotiations, first-string quarterback Tua Tagovailoa arrived to report to camp. On his fifth — and last — year on his rookie contract, the 2024 NFL passing yards leader enters camp without a new deal. The question of if he would show up to training camp is now over.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tagovailoa hasn\u2019t spoken to the media since he arrived, but his name came across almost every player and head coach Mike McDaniels. With no real time table still on Tagovailoa\u2019s deal, he takes the field for an unpredictable training camp. Just about everyone in the building had something to say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Star Wide Receiver Duo Confident in Tua\u2019s Participation Throughout Camp<\/h3>\n

Dolphins wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have advocated for their quarterback since OTAs. Both top receiving options said that Tagovailoa is excited to be back in the building and won\u2019t be a distraction throughout camp. When Waddle saw the franchise quarterback in the morning of report day, \u201cIt was regular,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be practicing, playing, whatever,\u201d Waddle said. \u201cTua is one of those guys who loves the game, likes being out there with us, so it\u2019s not going to be a distraction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This actually isn\u2019t the first time toward training camp that the veterans on the team saw Tagovailoa. Him and his wife, Annah, hosted many Dolphin players and their families to a <\/span>pre-training camp party<\/span><\/a>. One of those in attendance at the party was Hill, who also is in the midst of his own contract negotiations for an extension.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill, 30, reported into his ninth year in the league feeling the to be in <\/span>the best shape<\/span><\/a> he\u2019s ever felt. The Pro-Bowler claimed to have registered with 6% body fat. Hill said his quarterback is in great spirits and \u201cbelieves\u201d Tagovailoa will participate through camp without a contract because of how competitive he is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTua is very competitive,\u201d Hill said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t like to fall too far behind — he understands that we have a really good team. He doesn\u2019t want to miss this window. We have a great offense, defense is looking really good, so I believe he\u2019s going to practice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mostert Sticking With Tua No Matter What Happens<\/h3>\n

Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert had nothing but <\/span>praise<\/span><\/a> to give to Tagovailoa. The 5-foot-10-inch runner believes his quarterback has done enough work to show that he is the best option for the organization moving forward. Mostert had nothing negative to say about Tagovailoa. He even claimed his quarterback of two years as the best leader for not just the locker room, but also for the organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Tua is very well deserving of the opportunity to get a contract extension,\u201d Mostert said. \u201cHe\u2019s worked his tail off — especially since I\u2019ve started playing with him. I\u2019ve seen nothing but growth\u2026the leadership that he portrayed, not only for the team, but for the organization is definitely top notch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to today’s practice, Mostert also emphasized his support of Tagovailoa if he did decide to not practice in camp, or not show up at all. Still, the running back didn\u2019t want to say anything else on the subject and left it for the quarterbacks team, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it could be the right move and guys in the locker room definitely understand that,\u201d Mostert said yesterday. \u201cTua is Tua, and he\u2019s always putting the team first. That\u2019s how I see it and everybody in the locker room sees it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McDaniels on Tua\u2019s Participation in Camp and His Situation<\/h3>\n

McDaniels\u2019 first question to open training camp this morning was immediately directed toward Tagovailoa, and he didn\u2019t hiccup. The two-year head coach <\/span>acknowledged<\/span><\/a> his quarterback\u2019s situation and that he\u2019s in good communication with him. McDaniels described it as \u201cvery fluid\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an important situation for both the organization, and Tua and his family,\u201d McDaniels said. \u201cEverybody is aware of the importance to everyone, so I don\u2019t need to remind anybody about that. I think when you\u2019re working in a healthy organization, there\u2019s enough empathy that I know that he wants that contract done and he knows that there’s different things that evolve if there\u2019s not\u2026everyone is trying their best to get a deal done, so we have to rely on that and hope.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The head coach plans to see Tagovailoa to work in a limited capacity — similar to what he did in OTAs. The Polynesian quarterback participated today, but limited himself to 7-on-7 work instead of doing 11-on-11 drills. Tagovailoa is expected to stay in this loop until a contract is done to keep himself active on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Image: Sam Navarro – USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miami Dolphins’ teammates back quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who opens training camp while still in contract negotiations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5191,"featured_media":182837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,54],"tags":[2618,2769,4443],"class_list":["post-182791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dolphins","category-editorials","tag-contract","tag-nfl-training-camp","tag-tua-tagovailoa"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}