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Mike McDaniel: Offseason training gave Tua Tagovailoa “more pitches in his arsenal”

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said that his offseason training was designed to help him avoid injuries during the regular season and there will be plenty of people watching to see if that pays off.

Tagovailoa’s work has had other, more immediately noticeable consequences. Head coach Mike McDaniel said on Thursday that he thinks Tagovailoa’s workouts have added muscle that has added more depth to his game.

“He really took his training on his body serious this offseason for a multitude of reasons, and I’ve seen various things where he has a little more short-area explosiveness, where you’re able to manipulate yourself in the pocket at a more explosive rate,” McDaniel said, via Mike Coppinger of ESPN.com. “I don’t know this to be fact, but it appears by my layman’s eye that he has more pitches in his arsenal; he can layer stuff and drive it just with even more command. . . . He’s already pretty adept at [that] considering his accuracy. I think it just overall helps him feel prepared and execute a lot of things. And the residuals are apparent and various.”

Tagovailoa’s health and performance in his fourth season will weigh heavily on his NFL future, which will make this offseason’s training regimen one of the most consequential decisions of his career in one direction or another.