Miami Dolphins | Dolphins’ ‘scrappy’ Tua fires back at ESPN’s Ryan Clark: ‘I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out your mouth’

MIAMI GARDENS — Salty Tua, Spicy Tua — or, in this case, Scrappy Tua — whatever you want to call him, he came out Wednesday.

Tua Tagovailoa was the subject of criticism from ESPN analyst Ryan Clark over his offseason weight training in comments regarding the Miami Dolphins quarterback Monday.

After Wednesday’s practice, Tagovailoa responded, and he snapped back at Clark.

First, what Clark said on ESPN’s “NFL Live” this week: “I can tell you what he wasn’t doing. He wasn’t in the gym. I’ll bet you that. He might’ve spent a lot of time at the tattoo parlor. He was not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised. He looks happy. He is thick. He’s built like girls (that) work at Onyx (Gentlemen’s Club) in Atlanta right now.”

Tagovailoa worked his response to Clark’s body-shaming up over more than a minute, eventually peaking with a final stance: “I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out your mouth.”

Earlier, he also said, “If we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy too.”

Tagovailoa started by replying “Who?” when Clark’s name was first brought up in the question and quipped, “He probably knows more about me than I know about myself.

“I don’t know. Ryan’s been out the league for some time.

“It’s a little weird when other people are talking about other people, and they’re not that person.”

Tua Tagovailoa responds to Ryan Clark. Says he’d appreciate if he kept his name out his mouth if he’s not around to see him, and said they could get scrappy. Also started by asking “Who?” When Ryan Clark was first brought up.

— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) August 23, 2023

Tagovailoa pointed toward his heritage, and how, in his culture, people treat one another with respect.

“I come from a Samoan family,” he said. “Respect is everything, but it does get to a point where, ‘Hey, a little easy on that buddy.’ Because I think we’re pretty tough-minded people.”

That’s when he brought up that he and his people can get scrappy if the situation calls for it.

Tagovailoa went through an entire offseason where he worked on his body to better withstand the hits that come with playing quarterback in the NFL following multiple concussions in 2022 that caused him to miss 5 1/2 games.

He worked on strength training to build muscle, did weekly jiu-jitsu workouts to learn how to put himself in better positions when he falls to the ground and changed helmets to one that should help prevent concussions. Amid the strength training, Tagovailoa added weight.

“I’m not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but it takes a lot,” Tagovailoa said. “You think I wanted to build all this muscle? Like, nah. To some extent, I wanted to be a little lighter.

“There’s a mixture of things that people don’t understand, that people don’t know about that are talked about that go behind the scenes.”

Adding another ironic twist, Clark, who was a defensive back in the league from 2002 to 2014, once tweeted last year, “I think it’s stupid that players and coaches have to answer questions about what an analyst says on TV!”

Clark pulled that tweet back up Wednesday, adding “Still feel the exact same!!”

The constant criticism from the national media is something that has surprised Dolphins teammates, including outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, who joined Miami midway through the 2022 season via trade.

“When I first got here, I was like, ‘Man, why everyone always talking about you?’ ” said Chubb, speaking to reporters after Tagovailoa on Wednesday. “He just laughed it off. ‘Man, I don’t know.’ It doesn’t faze him, so just, as long as we’re the same people every day, I feel like it’ll be good for him.”

Tagovailoa was asked if he thinks people clout-chase by using his name.

“Go find Jake Paul or go find Logan. Go find those guys if you want to chase clout. Like those are the guys you want to chase,” he said. “I stay out of the media as much as I can. I try to live my life as private as I can.”

Can Tagovailoa get scrappy?

“Yeah, I’ve seen it, for sure,” Chubb said. “At first, I start looking, man, you don’t see it. But you see the dude walking around and how he responds to different things and how he navigates through it. He’s not going to give nothing attention unless it needs attention. That kind of just trickles down to the whole team. Nobody’s worried about the small distractions. Yeah, it’s going to come, but if you’re talking a little too much then we’re going to have to stand on our name, too.”

In non-Ryan Clark news, Tagovailoa said he will continue his jiu-jitsu training during the season, fitting it into his normal schedule to get closer to building the muscle memory on his falls. It worked well on one hit he took as he threw incomplete in last Saturday’s preseason game against the Houston Texans. His head held firm as he tucked his chin to his chest upon impact with the ground.

Tagovailoa went through Wednesday drills without receivers Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle. What ensued was a number of dumpoffs and short passes with running backs and tight ends heavily active.

“It’s a little unusual not having your guys out there,” Tagovailoa said. “But it also gives other guys opportunities to showcase themselves with the first group and then also build chemistry with those guys.”