National Football League

Tua Takes Over in Miami

Updated Oct. 20, 2020 12:21 p.m. ET

It's Tua time.

On Tuesday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will take over the starting role in Miami, replacing veteran gunslinger Ryan Fitzpatrick as the Dolphins head into their bye week.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise, considering Miami is 3-3 on the season and has won three of its last four games with Fitzpatrick under center, including two in a row.

On Sunday, despite throwing two interceptions, Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins to a 24-0 win over the lowly New York Jets, completing 66.7 percent of his passes and tossing three touchdowns.

In Week 5, Fitzpatrick had his best performance of the season, completing 22 of 28 passes for 350 yards in a 43-17 victory at San Francisco. Despite throwing seven interceptions in six weeks, Fitzpatrick is connecting on 70.1 percent of his passes and has 12 total TDs (10 passing and two rushing).

Against the Jets, Tagovailoa saw his first professional action after being selected fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

He replaced Fitzpatrick late in the fourth quarter, completing two passes for nine yards.

Despite his lack of reps in the NFL, Tua is considered a potential superstar in the league, based both on his talent and his personality.

Tua's journey to superstardom was outlined in FOX's TUA, which premiered in September.

Tua Talks – Episode 1: Football

TUA will premiere on FOX on Sept. 6 at 4 p.m. ET. Prior to its release, the FOX Sports App will provide football fans with an exclusive look at TUA via Tua Talks, a special 8-part miniseries focusing on Tua Tagovailoa's college football ascension at the University of Alabama to becoming the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins. In Episode 1, Nick Saban, Shannon Sharpe and others discuss Tua's natural instinct and ability on the football field.

In three seasons at Alabama, Tua made 32 appearances, but only started 24 games. In that time, he threw for 7,442 yards, 87 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. The Crimson Tide only suffered three defeats with Tua as starter.

However, at the tail end of the 2019 season, Tagovailoa suffered a devastating hip injury that threatened to derail his professional career entirely. Now recovered, he will make his first NFL start eight weeks into the season as Miami tries to push for a playoff spot.

Tua Talks – Episode 2: Injury

In Episode 2 of Tua Talks, Dr. E. Lyle Cain Jr. of the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center outlines Tagovailoa's devastating hip injury on Nov. 16, 2019 against Mississippi State, and he details Tua's rough road to recovery prior to the 2020 NFL Draft, where he was eventually taken No. 5 overall by the Miami Dolphins.

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