MIAMI — The pervasive optimism about Tua Tagovailoa around the Dolphins organization isn’t merely rooted in the fact that his supporting cast has been augmented and that an offensive savant — with a quarterback-friendly offense to boot — has been hired as head coach.
It’s also rooted in the reality that he’s in a better place physically, with a leaner physique, a stronger arm and a fully healed body.
For the latter, credit Tagovailoa’s dedication to a strenuous offseason regimen, and credit his trainer, Nick Hicks, for implementing that program and guiding him every step of the way.
“He ended up throwing 71 [air yards],” Hicks said in a recent phone conversation with the Miami Herald. “I don’t think he could have thrown 71 last offseason.
“He can push the ball down the field. He’s throwing the ball 50, 60 yards multiple times a practice. He is throwing the ball completely differently, with more confidence, more rhythm. His lower half is in shape. I feel he’s back to where he was when he was the sharpest quarterback in the NCAA.”
Not only is Tagovailoa’s lower body strong — now 2 1/2 years removed from a serious hip injury — but his body fat has dropped from 16% about 18 months ago to 9% now.
To understand how far Tagovailoa has come from the serious hip injury sustained during his final season at Alabama — one that affected his effectiveness as an NFL rookie — allow Hicks to take us back to January 2021, when Tagovailoa was coming off his first season as a Dolphin.
“Last year, we needed to rebuild the engine, start from scratch,” Hicks said. “Just a very long year of no breaks. He had a pretty bad injury. He was focusing on staying healthy.
“When I got my hands on Tua last year, at the end of his rookie season, he was at 60 percent health. There were basic movements I took him through with range of motion, strength, stability and making sure he didn’t have any setbacks with the hip. The mobility of the hip wasn’t great.”
And then the 2021 season “was a good year, but there were some things he could have done better.”
So Hicks crafted a plan that he shared with Tagovailoa over breakfast after the 2021 season ended.
“We talked about what he wanted to work on, what I wanted to work on — footwork, mobility in the pocket, burning fat, trying not to be as big as last year,” Hicks said.
“Flo [Brian Flores] wanted him to be a certain weight so he could take on hits, which was crazy to me. This year, the plan was lean muscle mass and decrease muscle mass and working on pushing the ball downfield accurately, and throwing it off platform, where your feet aren’t set and you’re moving to your left or right [or back].”
Tagovailoa is now at 218 to 220 pounds, down from 225 last season. But the big difference is the 7% drop in body fat from 18 months ago.
“He was out of shape,” Hicks said of where Tagovailoa ended his rookie season. “He’s leaner now. It’s going to make him quicker, more swift in the pocket. His movement in the pocket is going to be better.
“It was pretty good last year. [But] when he was running down field, he was kind of heavy. One play he ran over [Jets running back] Michael Carter, he looked like he was stumbling forward because his body wasn’t used to being that heavy. He can turn runs into longer gains and move better.”
Then there’s the throwing component, where there is an appreciable difference in arm strength.
“The thing about throwing the ball in Tua’s case is he has had a bunch of lower extremity injuries the last four years, whether it was the hip or the ankle,” Hicks said. “He had to play with a hindrance with the lower half of his body. When you play quarterback, that hurts you. Everything starts with the lower half.
“Tua has had to throw the ball with a shrunken arm rather than [with optimal power] with his lower half because he’s been dealing with nagging issues the past couple years. There was a disconnect between the kinetic chain.”
As Hicks noted, “it all starts with the lower half when you throw the football. His lower half was so used and abused that he started throwing with all arm. You don’t get the right velocity or trajectory that way; you not allowing yourself to reach full strength capacity throwing the ball down the field.”
To that end, beginning in February, “we did shoulder separation drills, a lot of torso rotations and movement and trying to understand how to generate power from the floor. It’s not like Tua didn’t know how to do it before. You lose sight of what’s really important. We knew he had it in him. It’s just recovering it. Tua can throw the ball. There are a lot of college videos where he’s throwing the ball effortlessly.”
So here’s what Hicks and Tagovailoa did every morning from February through the third week of April, when Dolphins offseason practices began:
He would have Tagovailoa make different types of throws at varying lengths, often to Dolphins teammate Lynn Bowden Jr., another Hicks client.
“First, I have him throw with his feet and shoulders square; you are working on torso rotation and throwing downfield with your trunk,” Hicks said. “Then he throws with his shoulders squared to his target, then pushing off his back leg. And the third throw would be throws on rhythm — a quick three step drop, a rhythm drop.”
He would make each of those throws at varying lengths; the emphasis would be more velocity: “We would start at five yards. Every five yards I will have a cone and have Lynn Bowden or whoever catching the ball and every time he completes the pass we move back another five yards.
“He increased everything by 20-plus yards at the end of the program. He ended up throwing 71 yards by the [late stages of the] program.”
But the on-field work was just part of the Tagovailoa/Hicks offseason program. This was a twice-a-day routine for more than two months.
“We would be on field 1 1/2 hours in the morning and got to the house in the evening” for lifting and cardiovascular work, Hicks said.
On Monday nights, Tagovailoa lifted weights to increase his lower body strength.
On Tuesday nights, the focus was weights to increase upper body strength.
On Wednesday nights, he would ride the treadmill and stationary bicycle as part of a core workout.
Oh Thursday and Friday nights, he would use free weights, medicine balls and resistance bands, with 14 exercises conducted over 45 minutes — one night focusing on the lower body, the other night on the upper body.
On Saturday, there would be a full workout in the pool.
The upshot?
“His overall strength has improved,” Hicks said.
His outlook and happiness have improved too.
“It’s a different feel,” Hicks said. “He thought the NFL was strictly business and coaches were just coaches, that they couldn’t be a friend. The first year, he thought that [nature of the business] really did [stink]. The NFL is rough.
“Having Mike McDaniel, [quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, offensive coordinator] Frank Smith, he loves these guys. He has found his love for it again, which is exciting.
“Every chance he gets, he has teammates over to the house to play basketball, have a barbecue. The situation he’s in compared to last year is very different. I haven’t seen him this happy ever. It’s fun to see.”
