Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Bills quarterback Josh Allen were both Top 10 draft picks, recognized as talents who could become the leaders of their franchises. But Tagovailoa acknowledges that Allen has a different level of talent.
“He’s top tier,” Tagovailoa said of Allen. “If it’s not with his arm, it’s with his legs. That dude can do literally anything he wants. So, definitely different skill set for me. I can’t do half of what he does when it comes to running the ball and any of that, and then with how he can just chuck a ball down the field with how far and the arm strength that he has. He’s supreme when it comes to that. So it’s going to be fun to get to see him, get to play him again.”
Tagovailoa was a college football star and MVP of the national championship game at Alabama, but he doesn’t have the physical makeup of Allen and hasn’t developed into the same kind of player in the NFL. Allen didn’t have a great college career at Wyoming, but he was drafted for his raw talent and has developed that talent to the point where he’s now the reigning NFL MVP.
Tagovailoa’s assessment of Allen’s gifts is correct, even if it’s surprising to hear Tagovailoa acknowledge what Allen can do better than him, just before the Bills and Dolphins meet on Thursday Night Football.
With the Dolphins sliding to 0-2 for the first time in Mike McDaniel’s four years as the team’s head coach — and with a short-week visit to Buffalo coming — McDaniel’s status has been a subject during recent press conferences involving various Miami players.
On Tuesday, receiver Jaylen Waddle got what has become a common question regarding outside noise. How, Waddle was asked, has McDaniel responded?
“He is not bothered,” Waddle told reporters. “Mike is going to be himself. He’s always stayed poised and always looked out for what’s in the team’s best interest inside and out. Mike’s just been Mike.”
But what about fans and media saying it’s time for a coaching change?
“To be honest, I don’t really see it,” Waddle said. “I’m really not too much on the Internet and stuff like that. I come from the cloth of [Alabama], we don’t listen to all of that rat poison stuff that we called it back in the day.”
The subject was included in fullback Alec Ingold’s Monday session with reporters.
“I think inside the building, inside the facility, a lot of that noise stops,” Ingold said. “I think that the trust and belief comes through time on task and working together and understanding the problems that we need to solve as a unit, as a group. And obviously when the results are losses, noise can be louder, but at the end of the day, the process of improvement, the process of gaining trust . . . and throughout a year for guys to respond and continue to improve and look in the mirror and not finger point and continue to find ways to get better, there’s no secret message, there’s no secret sauce and that’s the way forward. We need to make it right, and there’s no hiding from that. So no, there’s a lot of noise. It’s great, but inside the facility, it’s time on task and improvement, quick turnaround on a Thursday and a well-known opponent up there in Orchard Park and that’s what it is.”
Said linebacker Chop Robinson regarding McDaniel: “Everybody in the locker room believes in him. I personally believe in him. He took a chance for me last year, so I got the most respect and love for him, but at the end of the day, it’s not him out there on the field. It’s kind of us out there playing the game, making the mistakes on the field and stuff like that. So at the end of the day, it may look bad for him, but it’s really on us. We got to get it better.”
“Us as players, yes, we believe in him,” tackle Patrick Paul said. “Then with just me, I love him as a coach. He believed in me when most didn’t and he’s a great coach. He’s a players’ coach who believes in his players. He inspires us and speaks confidence into us and makes us go out there with a sense of urgency and confidence through the technique that all these coaches that he’s brought in for us. We love him.”
“My belief is at an all-time high,” linebacker Tyler Dodson said. “At the end of the day a coach can put a scheme out — there is no perfect scheme, but ‘it’s all about the Jimmys and Joes, not about the Xs and Os,’ a coach once told me. . . . So we’ve got to execute better, it doesn’t matter what he calls. You can’t call a perfect call. That’s my point of view from it and that’s all I’m willing to say about that.”
That all sounds good for McDaniel, but none of those players own the team. And none of them will be making the decision if/when the losses continue, and if/when owner Stephen Ross decides it’s time for a change.
Ultimately, the question is whether the current course is working. And whether there’s reason to think that, with the passage of time, things will improve. If, at some point, Ross decides to make a change after the season, a persuasive argument can be made to not delay the process of commencing the search for the next coach.
There were no surprises on the Bills’ injury report for Tuesday and no changes from Monday.
Linebacker Matt Milano (pectoral) and defensive tackle Ed Oliver (ankle) did not practice a second consecutive day. Coach Sean McDermott said earlier in the day that Milano could practice Wednesday.
Oliver has less of a chance to play and likely misses his second consecutive game.
Cornerback Taron Johnson (quad), linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring/hand), and defensive back Cam Lewis (shoulder) remained limited Tuesday.
The Bills play the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen will be sporting a new look on Thursday night.
Allen had to leave Sunday’s win over the Jets for a brief period after he got hit in the face at the end of a running play. Allen’s nose was bleeding, but he returned with gauze in one nostril and had no further issues in the game.
On Tuesday, Allen said he’s “a little bruised up” but otherwise fine heading into this week’s game. He was sporting a visor on his helmet at practice and said he thinks he will wear it as further protection on Thursday.
“We’ll see. We’ll probably wear it in the game,” Allen said in his press conference. “Just trying to get used to it.”
Allen has not worn a visor in an NFL game, but wore one in college. He said it doesn’t have much impact outside of being “warmer” than his usual helmet.
The Bills listed linebacker Matt Milano as a non-participant on Monday’s injury report as they get ready to play the Dolphins on Thursday.
Head coach Sean McDermott told reporters in his Tuesday press conference that Milano (pectoral) will not practice on Tuesday, though he could participate on Wednesday.
However, McDermott added that there is still no clarity as to whether or not this is a long-term injury for the linebacker — who is a critical piece of Buffalo’s defense.
Defensive tackle Ed Oliver (ankle) also is set to remain sidelined on Tuesday after he was listed as a non-participant on Monday. He missed the Week 2 win over the Jets.
Cornerback Taron Johnson (quad), linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring/hand), and defensive back Cam Lewis (shoulder) are set to remain limited on Tuesday, McDermott said.
The Bills’ full Tuesday injury report will be released later in the day.
