Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa will try to put his cold-weather woes on ice and stay unbeaten against Jets
EAST RUTHERFORD N J AP Tua Tagovailoa is heading to New York looking to keep the Miami Dolphins late-season surge going with a bit of perfection on the line The sixth-year quarterback is - against the Jets as a starter including the Dolphins - success in Miami in Week He s - overall in games in which he has played against New York including his NFL debut in when he replaced starter Ryan Fitzpatrick late in a win over the Jets But another opponent has proven even tougher for Tagovailoa cold weather When the Dolphins - take on the Jets - on Sunday at MetLife Stadium he ll try to improve on his - career mark when the temperature at kickoff is degrees or colder according to the Palm Beach Post The forecast calls for a high of so Tagovailoa and the offense will need to warm up early First things first it s going to be cold Tagovailoa reported You kind of have that on the top of your mind Outside of that it s a mentality it s a mindset This is what we get paid to do to play football regardless of if it s raining it s snowing it s sleeting it s hot it s cold Regardless we ve got to go out there and play and do our jobs Tagovailoa has two late-November victories on the road against the Jets in his career but the temperatures were degrees in and in at kickoff in those games Yeah when you win those are invariably great memories the quarterback explained But this is a new year new organization both sides of the ball This is just all new You re not guaranteed a win because you won X amount of times or whatnot Got to go out there and we ve got to prove it every time we go there Things have changed even since the first time the then-struggling teams squared off in Week The Dolphins who fired general manager Chris Grier on Oct have won three straight and four of their past five after opening the season - Miami s worst start under coach Mike McDaniel Meanwhile the Jets opened - under first-year coach Aaron Glenn but have won three of their past five to add a sense of optimism to what will be the th straight year without the playoffs if New York loses Sunday I m not happy about the record at all Glenn stated but I am happy about the way that we re trending in certain areas Off-target Tua The decline in Miami s efficiency in the passing challenge is in part tied to Tagovailoa s struggles He completed of passes for yards against New Orleans last week and as of now has the worst passer rating of his career He missed several targets and threw an interception on a ball he floated into double coverage which he noted was a poor decision Tagovailoa has pointed to his footwork and lack of conviction in his throws as issues that need to be improved Just bringing my feet with my eyes he declared because I could be faced this way and I m just bringing my eyes I can t really throw it like that INT drought The Jets still have no interceptions this season an NFL record for a crew through its first games It s a statistical oddity that has become a frequent topic of conversation among the players and coaches in defensive meetings It s really puzzling it really is Glenn explained But listen we re not going to hang our heads We re going to continue to fight to try to see if we can get them The fewest for an entire season is two by San Francisco in games in The association s the greater part modern interception was by Ashtyn Davis who had two in last season s finale against Miami Davis can t help this year He s now on the Dolphins Brooks impact Linebacker Jordyn Brooks is quietly having one of the best defensive seasons in Dolphins history He leads the NFL with total tackles more than Washington s Bobby Wagner and is one of two players in the league with at least tackles multiple sacks a forced fumble and a fumble recovery Absolute stud Miami defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver explained I hope he starts to get several of the credit he deserves He s one of the top two three linebackers in the league and I wish we had more wins so that the rest of the world would see that Brooks has tackles since joining the Dolphins last season the second the bulk by a participant in his first two seasons with the group since when solo tackles began to be recorded Only Hall of Famer Zach Thomas has more Still got it When Tyrod Taylor replaced Justin Fields as the Jets starting quarterback a large number of assumed New York s offense would miss Fields ability to make plays with his legs Well the -year-old Taylor is keeping the ground meeting rolling He ran for yards and a touchdown on eight carries against Atlanta One of his runs was a -yard scramble to jumpstart the winning drive showing he still has good mobility Oh I heard that on the sideline when I came to the sideline Taylor mentioned with a laugh I notified them Not too much now not too much