Xavien Howard says ex-teammate Tua Tagovailoa went into 'panic mode' during Colts' blowout of Dolphins
Colts CB Xavien Howard has thrown salt on the wound following his team's convincing 33-8 win over the Miami Dolphins -- the team Howard called home during his first eight NFL seasons. A day after the win, Howard issued a less than flattering response when he was asked about the Colts' success against Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who went 14 of 23 for 114 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble.
"We knew the guy, he gets the ball out pretty quick," Howard said, per ESPN. "And once we take away his first read, I feel like it's panic mode after that. And it showed yesterday. We took away his first read and he was trying to get rid of the ball real quick."
Howard wasn't alone in his assessment of Tagovailoa or the Colts' ability to take the former Pro Bowler off of his game.
"You could just tell with the big eyes and him getting flustered," said Colts defensive end Laiatu Latu.
It was without question a frustrating game for Tagovailoa, who took exception to a question afterward alluding to him turning the ball over "in bunches."
"I wouldn't say I'm pressing. I would say it's part of the game," Tagovailoa said. "You obviously don't wanna turn it over. I thought that was a wild comment, that I turn it over in bunches. That's crazy. It just so happened that that's what happened today. It was what it was. We've got to move forward from that."
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Tagovailoa's career so far has had its highs and lows. The highs have included leading the NFL in both passing yards and completion percentage while amassing a respectable 38-25 record as Miami's starting quarterback. The lows include several career-threatening head injuries and just one playoff start -- a blowout loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the wild card round of the 2023 playoffs.
While Tagovailoa was not at his best, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel accurately pointed out that the Sunday's blowout loss was a team effort. Miami didn't play well, and while plenty of blame can be thrown on Tagovailoa, the Dolphins as a whole need to play better moving forward to avoid similar outcomes.
"We don't want to overreact, but we don't want to underreact to this," Tagovailoa said. "We wanna make sure we get this right so that it never happens again."
