Tua Tagovailoa admits he 'wasn't comfortable calling plays' as a rookie

Tua Tagovailoa had a difficult time adjusting to the NFL as a rookie and heading into his second season, the Dolphins quarterback admits that he didn't feel comfortable calling plays last year.

"Well, I think last year for me, last year wasn't – I wasn't as comfortable just in general. I wasn't comfortable calling plays," Tagovailoa said during a Dolphins minicamp conference call. "I think the guys that we had last year were phenomenal. I just didn't have the comfortability of kind of checking plays, alerting plays and doing that."

As a result, Tagovailoa says that he would run plays that he knew would not work because he was not comfortable making those adjustments. But as he heads into Year 2, he feels much more confident running the Miami offense.

"Our play calls were simple when I was in," Tagovailoa said. "I didn't have alerts and checks whereas now, feeling more comfortable, I can kind of maneuver my way through these things now."

Tagovailoa was selected fifth by Miami in the 2020 draft and started the season on the bench with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting. However, the Dolphins benched Fitzpatrick midseason to give Tagovailoa the opportunity to start. He ended up starting nine games for the Dolphins, going 6-3 while throwing 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.