MIAMI GARDENS — Tua Tagovailoa unleashed a 50-yard sideline touchdown pass to Malik Washington on the final play of the first mandatory minicamp practice.
“Hone in on the details and I think it’ll take care of itself,” Washington said after practice about how Miami can create more big plays this season.
The Dolphins took a shocking turn for the worse in areas of explosive offense last season.
Somehow, they had only 19 offensive plays of 25 yards or more, last in the NFL.
“You have to earn those explosive opportunities,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said. “To answer your question, the hope is that there will be more based upon the defensive presentations that we earn. But what we saw last year showed us is that we have to earn everything based upon previous things we’ve done.”
McDaniel explained that if Miami does not run the football better in 2025, defenses won’t crowd the line of scrimmage. In that scenario, opponents can flood the deep and intermediate areas of the field, limiting plays for players like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Tua Tagovailoa wants more explosive plays in 2025
While all that is true, it sounds like Tagovailoa wants to pick spots to press the issue at times this season.
“Really honing in on when we get opportunities, not falling asleep on, all right, this is how we’ve been doing it, and we’re gonna stay consistent with taking what they give us,” Tua said. “But you gotta’ also have that shift of the mind that when we get a play where you have an opportunity to take a shot and it allows for you to take a shot, you can’t miss that opportunity.”
Tua missed games last season due to concussion and hip injuries.
He appeared fit in his first news conference since January.
“Doing everything I can to stay available for the guys,” Tua said. “Like I’ve said before, in the past, nothing changes with that. It’s knowing when is the time to give up on a play. And I would say the longevity for me to be on the field with my guys is more important than whatever that one play is.”
Miami hopes improved offensive line play will lead to bigger gainers in 2025.
Miami hopes the health of Tua and Tyreek Hill, who last season played through a wrist injury, will lead to bigger gainers in 2025.
Miami Dolphins saw dip in yards per pass attempt last season
McDaniel wants to see more of what we all saw in 2023, when Tua led the NFL with 8.9 yards per attempt.
That number decreased to 7.2 last season.
McDaniel will say it’s not all about Tua. It’s not all about his arm strength or a willingness to take chances.
There are many factors, of course, including pass rush and depth of defenders and alignment and scheme.
But there are times Tua wants to hang in there and deliver the big play, just as he did in minicamp, with that impressive deep ball to Washington.
“Felt great,” Tua said of the play.
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.
This story was updated to add a gallery.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa ends practice with deep TD pass
Reporting by Joe Schad, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
