One change in Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa the numbers don’t show

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s numbers during the team’s five-game winning streak have been impressive and part of the reason the team has turned around a 1-7 start.

But it was a trait that doesn’t show up on the postgame boxscore that stood out to center Michael Deiter when he made his return to the field Sunday after missing nine games on injured reserve.

“He’s definitely playing with a lot more confidence,” Deiter said Monday after the team’s win over the New York Giants. “Just making quicker decisions, having better plans. And that starts with the offensive line giving him the ability to do all of that, to have confidence, not be worried about getting hit a lot. We need to make sure we’re always on top of that. He’s been just way more confident, which is making sure that he’s having way more fun, which is ultimately helping him just go out and cut it loose and have some fun. Obviously he is capable of being a really good quarterback. It’s been fun to watch him just have way more fun and just be confident.”

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Since Week 10 — Tagovailoa didn’t play in the Week 9 win over the Houston Texans because of a fractured finger — Tagovailoa has completed just shy of 78 percent of his passes for 905 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

After connecting on some of the deepest passes of his career in wins over the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, Taovailoa has continued to show his efficiency on short passes in recent weeks. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Tagovailoa has completed 55-of-61 passes for 427 yards and four touchdowns on short passes — attempts that travel 0 to 9 yards — since Week 11.

“I think he’s preparing the right way,” coach Brian Flores said Wednesday. “I think he’s getting a good amount of reps in practice. That always helps – practices, walk-throughs, meetings. He watches extra film and it’s showing up on the field.”

But it’s the increased confidence Deiter sees that might be most promising for the Dolphins as they look past their bye week and on to the final four games of the regular season. The first half of the season included a nightmarish 1-7 start and Tagovailoa may have been a microcosm of it all. After an encouraging season debut, Tagovailoa was knocked out of the Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills with fractured ribs that sidelined him for three weeks. He couldn’t solely change the team’s losing ways upon his return in Week 6, and the continued struggles prompted further questions about his future in Miami as the team pondered a trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Since the Nov. 2 trade deadline passed, the Dolphins are 5-0 and Tagovailoa has played his best football to date.

Though social media remains a meeting point for the most ardent of his supporters and critics, the general fan base seems to be behind the 23-year-old, as witnessed from “Tua” chants at recent home games to the loud ovation he received while attending the Miami Heat game Monday night.

Tagovailoa, who has previously said he doesn’t spend time on social media, joked that he loved being in Miami because “there’s a lot of celebrities that are out there, so it’s almost like it’s nonchalant. [Fans] see you, it’s like, ‘That’s Tua, let’s go eat Subway.’”

He said that during the bye week he will play golf, which he picked up in the offseason, as well as self scout.

“For myself, just finding ways to get completions, get the ball out of my hands on third down,” Tagovailoa said on what he seeks to improve. “If you look at previous film, there’s been some guys that have been opened that I’ve missed. So, just trying to eliminate that period of missing guys, whether it’s in the flat, whether it’s an under route, over route, whatever it may be and just going through my progressions faster.”

Whether Tagovailoa’s more relaxed demeanor is due to the weight of the trade deadline being lifted, better health after injuries derailed the first half of his season or just the natural progression of a young quarterback is unknown. But it’s more than welcome for a team fighting for a playoff spot in the final weeks of the season.

“When he made that touchdown throw to [wide receiver] Isaiah [Ford], when he released the ball, he put his hands up,” Deiter said. “I don’t know if anyone noticed that, but it was not caught yet and he was like, ‘that’s a touchdown.’ I think that little bit of confidence and swagger, that was cool to see him do that because he knew right away that he just stopped that one [defensive back] just long enough to deliver that throw and he knew it right when he released it that it was going to be a touchdown. I thought that was really cool.”