Read the full transcript from Tua Tagovailoa's postgame press conference on September 16, 2025.
Q: I was wondering after just watching a little bit of tape yesterday, specifically when you left the pocket, how much emphasis do you place on your receivers' assignments after you have to leave the pocket and extend the play? Like how often do you guys run that scramble drill?
"That's something that we try to stress a lot throughout OTAs and in training camp. Now I would say, there's a tough deal with that, with the style that we want to play, too, right. Playing on time, guys being in the right spots, and then outside of that, like guys having to strain through whatever route they just won on to get open again. That's something we looked at. That's something that we talked about as well. I get out of the pocket, I'm looking to find somebody down the field and throw to one of the guys, so that that was a point of emphasis throughout OTAs and training camp for us."
Q: Interception late in the game 鈥 I think this is the right play 鈥 was TE Julian Hill a part of the progression on that play?
"Yeah, everyone is a part of the progression in the play. He had his assignment and then he chipped out, went up, didn't see him, just tried to make something happen there. That's what it was."
Q: After the game Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel had his coaches show. He said their main goal was to take away the middle. Just kind of second week that somebody said that. Have you seen defenses play you different and if so how do you combat that goal that teams have coming in?
"I would say that's the style that teams have played us in and they've found a lot of success. As you see, we had to throw outside of the numbers this this past game and then the check downs; we try to find ways to maneuver guys, to get out of the middle so that we can find those soft spots inside the numbers, if you will. But yeah, this past game, that's how we were looking to combat that 鈥 throwing outside the numbers, taking the check downs and then running the ball as well."
Q: Obviously have tried to do that to you for a while. You guys still found ways to get it with the timing in the motion. What has changed?
"I think it's spots that those guys are getting to now as well. It's not your normal Tampa 2, it's not your normal quarters deal. It's guys are staying inside, allowing our guys to break outside where they can trap the corners, play up top with the safeties and their backers are just getting depth, like they're not even getting to the spots where in a normal Tampa 2 or in a normal quarters deal, you'd get width or you'd get depth. They're just literally packing the middle."
Q: You mentioned throwing the ball outside the numbers. On a couple sail routes to WR Jaylen Waddle, I think WR Tyreek Hill had a big comeback route in the game. Do you feel like getting that stuff on tape is going to be beneficial to how teams approach you down the road?
"Yes and no. Every game is going to have its own challenges depending on the flavor of the DC and what they want to do to combat what we've done previous, previous game or in games past against them. So it's really just figuring out what they want to do against us."
Q: You've obviously dealt with a lot of adversity through your first five seasons, but as you mentioned after the game, you've never started 0-2. You said WR Jaylen Waddle hasn't started 0-2. How are you personally dealing with all the weight of all that since you've never experienced it before and possibly being 0-3 in the first 12 days of a season even?)
"I would say when we were in '21, it wasn't just how we started. We could have been 1-0, 2-0 maybe even. And then we went on that streak of maybe six losses, seven losses and then we came back and we won eight. It's one of those deals where you can never get too high in this league; you can never be too low. You've just got to continue to stick to your process, stay even keel, trust the guys, continue to bring those guys along and you go out there and you continue to play. Do your job, do the best that you can and the result will take care of itself, whether it's a win, whether it's a loss, and you continue to grow from that, continue to move on from that."
Q: WR Tyreek Hill said last game it felt like the old days with his connection with you. Do you feel some momentum coming in your connection with Tyreek?
"In this past game, just looking at what the defense was allowing for us to do, we'll give 'Reek'(Tyreek Hill), we'll give (Jaylen) Waddle those opportunities. And then that deep ball 鈥 that was one of those where like, 'Hey, we need a spark from our offense,' and it was like, ''Reek', I'm just coming to you no matter what they do on this, and you've got to make me right.' So not to say that's what we want to do every time, but when the defense allows and we can manipulate coverage, that's the guys we want to get the ball."
Q: Did you feel you underthrew it? It got there.
"Oh yeah, heck yeah. Heck yeah, I definitely did. I wasn't able to get both my feet under me as I was moving off the spot to make that throw."
Q: What makes the Bills so good?
"I think defensively, the scheme that they're in 鈥 very disciplined. That's one of the teams that just want to get to a spot, we'll just keep everything, hey, numbers to numbers and inside. Like that's where we're going to force them not to throw. If they want to do the check downs, like, force them to throw those check downs because they can't sustain that. Force them to throw outside the numbers because they can't sustain that. And I think the discipline of that defense is what makes them really good."
Q: I'm curious, when was your introduction to the Bills-Dolphins rivalry? Was there a particular moment that you realized, "Oh, this is this kind of real?"
"I would say when I first got to the league, just in general, even when I wasn't playing the first game against the Bills, when 'Fitz' (Ryan Fitzpatrick) was playing, but I sort of looked at it as that's how all the division games were. When we played the Patriots that year and 'Fitz' started, that's what I felt like it was. The Jets, same thing and then also with the Bills. I just assumed they were all that way because it was divisional games."
Q: There's been a lot of talk about the communication from coaches and kind of a slow Year 4 for you guys in the system. I guess for those of us who haven't played in it, how does it still happen at this stage?
"I think it also has a lot to do with kind of wanting to do new personnels, and with that comes responsibility from guys that never had to do that in years past and now they have that on their plate. So the communication with that from the sideline to the huddle, from me telling those guys what it is and then guys in the huddle knowing, 'OK, now I'm not this position, I'm this position.' And so I think that's what it is and coming into this Thursday night game, how can we tailor that to maybe only these couple personnels and then with the guys that we want in there, let's just go play football."
Q: You mentioned not seeing TE Julian Hill on that progression. I think there was another play with TE Tanner Conner. Are you maybe not looking for the tight ends enough or do you feel defenses are maybe disregarding them a little bit?
"I wouldn't say I'm not looking for the tight ends in general, just going through my progression for myself. My feet is what I feel is telling me, whether I should stick with this or progress and whatnot, but it's not that I'm trying to disregard the tight end or not wanting to throw to the tight end."
(What do you think of Bills QB Josh Allen's skill set?) 鈥 "Dude, he's top tier. If it's not with his arm, it's with his legs. That dude can do literally anything he wants. Definitely different skill set for me. I can't do half of what he does when it comes to running the ball and any of that, and then with how he can just chuck a ball down the field with how far and the arm strength that he has, he's supreme when it comes to that. It's going to be fun to get to see him, get to play him again and we'll see."
