Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa reveals his lack of height to blame for not targeting Jaylen Waddle more

The Miami Dolphins offense struggled mightily in their 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns last week. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for just 100 yards and tossed three interceptions before being replaced by rookie Quinn Ewers in the fourth quarter.

One of the more glaring takeaways from Sunday's loss was the fact that Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle only was targeted four times and caught just one pass for 15 yards. On Wednesday, Tagovailoa revealed that his height kept him from being able to get the ball to his star wideout.

"Some of it has to do with being able to see guys ... I'm not the tallest guy in the back there either," said Tagovailoa who stands 6-foot-1. "So being able to see and then sometimes when that happens, you don't want to just throw it blindly, and you gotta progress. So I think that has some merit to, reasons as to why that happened for Waddle."

Tagovailoa completed just 12 of 23 passes, was sacked twice threw three second-half interceptions. The first one came on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter when Cleveland's Tyson Campbell returned the ball 34 yards for a touchdown to extend the Browns' lead to 24-6. The second interception came on a 3rd and 12 from the Miami 3-yard line and was nearly returned for another pick six. The Browns scored a touchdown on the next play. His passer rating on the day was a dismal 24.1.

The veteran signal caller actually only targeted Waddle three times and Ewers targeted Waddle once before the final whistle sounded. 

Despite Tagovailoa's struggles in recent weeks, coach Mike McDaniel confirmed earlier this week that Tagovailoa would be the team's starter against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8. Tagovailoa has thrown three interceptions in back-to-back games and became the first NFL quarterback to do so since Philip Rivers did it in 2019.