{"id":832275,"date":"2026-03-25T03:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/832275\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T03:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:58:18","slug":"tua-tagovailoa-gets-candid-on-dolphins-demise-fresh-falcons-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/832275\/","title":{"rendered":"Tua Tagovailoa gets candid on Dolphins demise, fresh Falcons start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tua Tagovailoa isn\u2019t going to sugarcoat his 2025 \u2014 it was bad.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean he believes his career is on a downward trajectory. He actually thinks quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

A little over two weeks after signing with the Falcons<\/a> following his release by the Dolphins<\/a>, Tagovailoa spoke to reporters about what he expects from himself in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\"12\/7\/25Tua Tagovailoa throws a pass during the Dolphins\u2019 win over the Jets last season. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hoping the Falcons, who also added Trevor Siemian on Tuesday<\/a>, will give him a new lease on football life.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was not the best year for me, I\u2019m looking for a fresh start,\u201d Tagovailoa said, according to NBC Atlanta<\/a>. I think the best football is still ahead of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years removed from being a Pro Bowler, Tagovailoa looked like anything but in 2025. <\/p>\n

He threw for 2,660 with 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His QBR (37.5) was the lowest of his career, and his 190.0 yards per contest was the second worst after his rookie campaign. <\/p>\n

Miami went 6-8 in his starts, and the team eventually benched him for rookie Quinn Ewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now in a crowded quarterback group that features Michael Penix Jr. and Siemian. <\/p>\n

\"MiamiTua Tagovailoa runs off the field during the first half of the Dolphins\u2019 blowout loss to the Patriots on Jan. 4, 2026 in Foxborough, Mass. AP<\/p>\n

Tagovailoa knows if he\u2019s going to win the starting quarterback job, his 2025 effort isn\u2019t going to cut it in Atlanta, which has a new offensive-minded head coach in Kevin Stefanski.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cSo, just got to play better football. That\u2019s what that really means,\u201d the quarterback added. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tagovailoa said he\u2019s ready to face the competition head-on and work alongside Penix, no matter who ends up winning the job.<\/p>\n

Penix, in nine games last year before needing season-ending ACL surgery, threw for 1,982 yards with nine touchdowns against three interceptions, holding the lowest INT rate in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI embrace the competition. I\u2019m excited to work alongside with Mike and I\u2019m excited to work with the team, with the guys,\u201d Tagovailoa said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be fun this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tua Tagovailoa isn\u2019t going to sugarcoat his 2025 \u2014 it was bad. But that doesn\u2019t mean he believes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2049],"tags":[254,217,7,216,251,2087,6,9,3452],"class_list":{"0":"post-832275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-atlanta-falcons","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-dolphins","13":"tag-miamidolphins","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-tua-tagovailoa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116287817744544238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}