Read the full transcript from Tua Tagovailoa's press conference on December 3, 2025.
Q: Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned plays 40 and 46 from the last game. I'm not sure it might have been a throw to TE Greg Dulcich and a throw into a triangle with WR Jaylen Waddle, those are two that I noticed late in the game. What went into those plays that you would've liked to replicate more often?
"The conviction of my footwork, conviction through the progression. That's what I would say about that."
Q: Third-and-4, late sliding short, what did you think of that one once you did watch it on tape and also just the situation, did you feel you should've gone for it there?
"I think assessing the situation, talking with head ball, those are quick decisions that you have to make, so it's one of those. I've had a conversation with him. We've talked through it, we've talked about it. I've got to make the right decision for the team and for us to keep us on the field. I've got to be better there so that's it."
Q: What more can be done in those cases? Is there something you can think about pre-snap? I know you're thinking about鈥
"Not necessarily pre-snap, just as it's happening. The refs stop it right as you're about to slide not where your momentum takes you so finding a lane, diving in a direction outside of harms way, that would be it."
Q: As far as the decision between whether slide or dive, like a got-to-have-it down, would that be something you think about before it happens? I'm thinking like an infielder, ball is hit to him in baseball, you've got to know where you're going before the play, but I know you have a lot that you're thinking about pre-snap.
"For sure, I think it's hard to have that on the top of your mind as you're going through your process with the plays, but it's also tough too, as things are happening in game, a lot of the times it's reactionary."
Q: On the plays that were off target, did you identify anything from a mechanics perspective whether it was footwork, hips, et cetera?
"Yeah."
Q: What was a theme that you might want to be aware of moving forward?
"Just bringing my feet with from my eyes, because I could be faced this way and I'm just bringing my eyes. I can't really throw it like that, so just bring it, that's it."
Q: How different is it preparing for the Jets in a post-CB Sauce Gardner world?
"Well, Sauce (Gardner) is a good player, but they've still got good players. They're still playing hard, hence their win this past Sunday against another good team in the Falcons. We know we're going to get their best and we're preparing as if that's going to happen."
Q: It'll be somewhat cold, maybe not very cold but this team hasn't maybe seen that kind of a temperature yet. Spain was kind of open air but still, I think it felt warm on the field. So what is it like, that first time you've experienced a game that's a little bit colder when you're coming from this climate?
"First things first, it's going to be cold. You kind of have that on the top of your mind. Outside of that, it's a mentality, it's a mindset. This is what we get paid to do 鈥 to play football regardless of if it's raining, it's snowing, it's sleeting, it's hot, it's cold. Regardless, we've got to go out there and play and do our jobs."
Q: Head Coach Mike McDaniel was talking about how it's a good thing that the run game has come on the way it is but at some point, the passing game, you're going to have to pass to win the game. What's the balance between knowing that and passing the ball when not being able to or being able to execute the passing plays when you need them and knowing that maybe you don't have to throw for 200 yards every game to win?
"I think it's the whole balance of offsetting the pass with the run and offsetting the run with the pass. But throughout that process, as the run game has its flow, the pass game has to find that same flow and they need to be able to intertwine to keep the defense on their heels. Then when we do pass that's why, I've talked to (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) about it as well, just the efficiency for us offensively with me being able to distribute the ball needs to be better and we need to get our guys in the flow just how we're running the ball as well."
Q: Your kind of along those same lines, it seems like the identity of the offense is shifting real time. How have you handled it? Obviously you care about winning first but just personally, how have you handled that shift?
"Of course, the winning aspect of it, very important for us, but it's also how we continue to get better. The backend of the year, you can't just lean on one particular style of play. As it gets into the deeper parts of December, early January and then the postseason, you've got to be able to pass the ball and pass the ball efficiently before you can start getting the run game going and whatnot. Because the teams that we're going to start playing from here on out, you're going to get their best. They got in their groove, they found their groove, and that's what that is so that's what you got to expect."
Q: I was thinking about how sometimes a pitcher in baseball, he'll like warm up in the bullpen and he'll know pretty quickly like, "I don't have my curveball today." Or a shooter will miss a bunch of shots and after the game he'll say, "I still believed the next one was going to go in." When you're not having a great day, what do you try to tell yourself? What's that mental process in terms of that?
"I think for me, it's my reset and how I do reset for myself is my senses. Whether that's touching my fingers, touching grass, whatever that is, breathing in the air, what I smell through that, just using my senses to bring myself to become present. I would say that helps me reset."
Q: Do you feel like you're better at that now like putting the last play or the last series or the last quarter or the last game, are you better at that now than before?
"I would say most definitely. (laughter) I've never had resets before, never heard of them prior to me using them. I think it's a really cool thing to be able to have. It brings you back into the present moment. You can't think about anything else but where you are, where your feet are, then you move on from there."
Q: Where did that come from? What was kind of instrumental in getting that?
"Someone that I ended up talking to and then you also have a lot of teammates that have resets, whether it's clapping for themselves, whether it's saying something that no one knows what they are saying but that's just for them for their reset. So you can take some things as well from other guys."
Q: The last time against the Jets, you found success going to TE Darren Waller. How much is that something you can exploit again as a matchup that worked versus obviously a divisional foe that you face a second time, they'll be making adjustments and try to counter that?
"I'm sure they are going to be making a lot of adjustments to take (Darren) Waller away, to take (Jaylen) Waddle away. That's why you have progressions, that's why you have other guys that get paid, that run routes, that can catch the ball as well. I've just got to be able to go through the progression, bring my feet along with me, find those eligibles and distribute it to them."
Q: Why do you think it's happened a couple times there, TE Darren Waller finds success early and then kind of he's not targeted for much of the rest of the game?
"I think that has a lot to do with the coverage and then what we're seeing off of those coverages with the progression."
Q: I think you've won two late November games at the Jets. Are there some positive core memories of playing against the Jets on the road?
"Yeah, when you win, those are always great memories. But this is a new year, new team, both sides of the ball. This is just all new. You're not guaranteed a win because you won the X amount of times or what not. Got to go out there and we've got to prove it every time we go there."
Q: How have you seen RB De'Von Achane handle the increased workload that's been put upon him the past few weeks?
"At this point, I feel it's second nature to De'Von (Achane). It's not something that's too much for him regardless of where we put him, regardless of the alignments that he hears in the huddle, where he is, what the personnel is. He does a really good job in hearing that and communicating that as he comes into the huddle, and then you can see what he does when the ball is in his hands. It looks like it's about to be a negative two-yard loss, then he makes it up to be an eight-yard gain. That's who 'Von' (De'Von Achane) is and that's what we know him to be for us offensively. It's great to have someone like that."
Q: This morning Head Coach Mike McDaniel raved about LB Jordyn Brooks's leadership style in the building. As the quarterback and leader of the team, I'm just curious what maybe have you taken from Jordyn from a leadership perspective?
"Me and Jordyn's lockers are right next to each other, so we have a lot of talks that always relate to football. What I mean by that is that we have a lot of spiritual talks. I don't know if you guys know but Jordyn Brooks is a real spiritual guy when it comes to his belief in God and Jesus Christ. But having someone like that next to me, it's hard for us not to talk about football within our spirituality because we almost feel like they go hand in hand when it's in times of adversity but then also in times of triumph. There's so many things you can talk about, so many examples that the bible gives through those as well. His leadership comes through that, I would say, comes through an example of what he knows to be true for himself and from what he believes, and that would be the bible."
