Read the full transcript from Tua Tagovailoa's press conference on November 11, 2024.
(On what it felt like to get a win on primetime when the team needed it most)
"Felt good, brother. Felt good. I think it's a testament to the character of this team. We've come a long way through however many losses in a row. The resilience of this team, with the external noise, everyone counting us out. Hopefully this is an opportunity for us to not waste. Hopefully we can go on a run with this win and find our rhythm towards the back end of the season."
(On how this helps the team's confidence levels and how they will take this into next week)
"I would say the confidence is always there, but to be able to see the product out there, to see what we can do and play complimentary football in that sense… When we turn the ball over, the defense is able to hold them and minimize the points that they score and vice versa. When the defense gives us opportunities, we're able to take advantage of that. I think this is something that we can continue to build on, we can continue to grow on, and we'll look at all the things we need to fix. I think for the most part, it's hard to win in the league. We're going to enjoy this one."
(On what worked early on the first scoring drive and how he bounced back from turnovers in the second half)
"Continue to play the game, that's it, continue to trust what I see. (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) just called the game how he [saw] it. It's my job to go out there and execute it to the best of my ability. I think they had a pretty good game plan with their tricky twos and using those corners as the run fit guys as well. I think they had a really good game plan against us tonight."
(On spreading the ball well to receivers and if that was by design or if it was what the defense was giving them)
"That's just what the defense was giving us today."
(On how he's feeling overall considering it's his third game back coming off injured reserve)
"I feel good. Everything's good. I went up to that dude that intercepted me. I asked him, 'Bro, you couldn't have just ran out of bounds or cut back?' I was like, 'You saw me and I saw you, you wanted to just run me over?' He told me after the game. He's like, 'There was no room there. There was nowhere else to go.' He has to do what he has to do to help his team win games. I wasn't planning on using my head to go hit that."
(On sticking his shoulder down to stop Rams' ILB Christian Rozeboom after the interception and if he felt anything when he hit his head on Rozeboom's leg)
"No, I didn't feel any of that. That was pretty bad tackling form though. That was pretty terrible."
(On if that's another indication that he's all the way back)
"Yeah, I would say for myself, my confidence level from the time I came back against the Cardinals had never wavered from the first game I played against the Jaguars. I think when you're playing, when you're out there, the game is too fast for you to think of anything else. If you start thinking of anything else, it's hard for you to focus on your job. So, go out there and play football."
(On playing complimentary football and how much it lifts the offense when the defense gets stops)
"It gives us a huge lift. Now we got to do our job as well, turn the ball over, try to eliminate those and stay on the field and put some points on the board. You got to continue to find ways to do that. I think we did some really good things in the second half with adjusting to what they showed us in the first half but it has to happen a little quicker."
(On playing several close games and how it felt having the defense keep the Rams out of the endzone)
"Well, the defense has a job and we have a job as well. Like I said, we have to continue to put points on board and that's just the confidence that we all have in each other. We're going to enjoy this win. It's going to be a fun captains meeting, players only meeting, this Tuesday when we get back."
(On his return to the field uplifting the team and how it feels having the love and support from his teammates and the franchise as a franchise quarterback)
"I would say for me growing up, none of this has been because of me. My faith is what holds me true to who I am. I mean, it's been nothing but God. I've been very blessed since [I was] a child. I've been really good since I was little and it's been by the grace of God and my faith being able to rely on prayer, rely on all of that, rely on Him when times get tough and all of that. But I would say it's definitely cool that my teammates look at me and admire me in that sense and whatnot. All glory be to God, man. That's the reason I'm standing in front of you guys. That's why I'm still playing and that's the reason I get to continue to play this game, man. That's what I would say."
(On Tyreek getting in the endzone and how that can get him going more)
"Tyreek's a dog. Going from 'Mr. 2k' last year, everybody talking about him to, will he hit a thousand yards? Will Jaylen [Waddle] hit a thousand yards? Jaylen's a dog too. Coming into this game they could have easily said, 'Dude, just continue to throw the ball.' Even if they're in a two- high shell, but those guys are in it man. They're just in it to win it. Anything that they [have to] do to help us, blocking… They're going up to Mike and saying, 'Mike, we should run this run call because I can get a chip on this guy or I can do this to that guy and it'll open up lanes.' So, it just tells you a lot about the guys that we're playing with out there."
(On if he worried whether Tyreek Hill would play in tonight)
"Anytime you get somebody like that and of that caliber out, it's tough. It was tough. I mean, we found out literally last night whether he was going to play or not. It was kind of nerve wracking, if you will, but he was able to play and that was cool."
(On continuing to win games after a slow start)
"I would say for us it's sort of the… it's not your job mentality. I don't know if you guys have heard that story of four people. Everybody, anybody, somebody, and nobody. Well, I can't tell it [because] I don't have the quote but it's a story about those guys. But sort of the mentality of it's not your job. If everybody's not going to do it, anybody's not going do it. Somebody's going to figure out that, okay, anybody didn't do it. Everybody doesn't care about it. I'm not going to do it and eventually nobody's going to end up doing it, right? So, it's sort of the mentality of, dude, this is my job. If that's his job, that's not my job. This is what I got to focus on. I got to put all the thinking, all my skills into that and go about that. I would say we find our rhythm in that, and it started with this game."
