Tua Tagovailoa: Mike McDaniel created atmosphere for players to finally speak their minds

MIAMI GARDENS — Tua Tagovailoa was speaking Wednesday about, well, speaking.

How he and his teammates have the freedom this season to express themselves.

And how last year, they didn’t.

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Tagovailoa was asked about the environment created by first-year coach Mike McDaniel in allowing players to be themselves. Tagovailoa did not mention last year’s coach, Brian Flores, but it was clear that Tagovailoa felt on edge in last year’s culture.

“I think everyone feels like they can share what they feel, they can express what they like, what they don’t like, and they won’t feel judged or they won’t feel like they’re stepping on anyone’s toes,” Tagovailoa said.

As a result, Tagovailoa said, players feel more likely to strive for perfection while at the facility because everyone’s held accountable. Tagovailoa has experienced that with top receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill.

“Mike has made this kind of a safe area or safe space, if you will, for all of the guys,” Tagovailoa said. “You know, because if Jaylen is not doing something right, you know, I’m able to tell him. If Tyreek’s not doing something right I’m able to say what I think and same for them to me if I didn’t do something right, they’ll come and hold me accountable. So I think that’s where the being comfortable kind of falls into with the atmosphere Mike created.”

Last week, the Dolphins announced team captains for the 2022 season. For the first time, they include Tagovailoa, whom McDaniel said received the most votes on the team.

“I would say it doesn’t change the way I lead,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m very grateful that my teammates think very highly of me in that way, and I think the coolest thing is no one needs to go up and give a speech and tell the team why you should vote for me as a captain. It’s cool that Coach just allows the guys to decide, and Coach may say that I had the most votes, but there’s a lot of guys that have a lot of respect in our locker room that the guys really trust and really want to play for.”

The Dolphins listed 11 players on their first injury report of the season as being limited in practice, but three were unrelated to injury. Waddle was included because of a quad injury, although he no longer is wearing a sleeve on his leg and McDaniel is confident he’ll play in Sunday’s opener against visiting New England.

“I think there’s still some things that we’ve got to continue to work on with me and Jaylen,” Tagovailoa said. “You don’t just go from working consistently, to working with other guys consistently, while Jaylen is trying to heal up, and then you come back and it’s all figured out. Today was a good day to kind of help iron all of those things out, and if Mike does allow Jaylen to play, then I think it’s better for us that he does.”

Tagovailoa also revealed that his new left tackle, Terron Armstead, put him in touch with Drew Brees, Armstead’s old teammate when they played for the New Orleans Saints.

“He kind of said like, ‘Hey, little bro, this is Drew’s contact. I want you to hit him up and I know he’d want to help you or he’d love to help you,’ ” Tagovailoa said. “I thought that was a cool thing. Rookie and the vet, if you will.”

Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa: Mike McDaniel lets us be ourselves