How Tua Tagovailoa’s helmet cam helps the Dolphins
MIAMI GARDENS — It would be hard to miss the cameras affixed to the right side and top front of Tua Tagovailoa's Dolphins helmet during spring practices.
As Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel explained Wednesday, the audio component can be as valuable as the visual.
"Some of the strong attributes of that technology is that you get to hear play calls," McDaniel said. "You can library those play calls for players to hear when they're studying. This is the National Football League, with huddles. A lot of college and high schools don't, which means you're taking in information auditorily for the first time, with many minimized reps, and then you're not looking at the sidelines for a signal or picture."
Tagovailoa led the NFL in passer rating in 2022, so clearly he was making good on-field choices. But for McDaniel and Miami's staff, being able to review exactly what Tua saw in real-time has value.
"You can, you know, see from his side eye," McDaniel said. "What's he's looking at? So for all quarterbacks, it's a tool to help really drive home certain coaching points and just see what they're seeing, to be on the same page as the player."
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Tagovailoa has had a high completion percentage and coaches have praised how much improvement he's made in the area of progressions.
But there have been times where Tua appeared to miss a receiver with big-play potential.
"That's a tool that has been around in the league and different avenues and different organizations, I can remember since the, the teens of the 2000s," McDaniel said. "And, and for us, it's multifaceted. It's not like anything earth -shattering."
McDaniel was asked if perhaps he and Tua might see something to aid injury prevention.
"Well, I think I think preparation is the best thing that you can do, for all players," McDaniel said. "And regarding executing your jobs, and while protecting yourself outside of that. You've got to get a hold of one of those, 'see the future cameras.' Then it'd be extremely helpful if you knew where the players were going to be."
McDaniel added that the camera is simply one tool to help with potential problem-solving.
"I think it does help us to get to becoming really the best football team and best players and the best coaches that we can be, which is really how I see our jobs," he said.
Noteworthy
McDaniel said Terron Armstead (foot) should be ready for training camp. He declined to detail if Armstead had any surgery... Robbie Chosen had a long catch from Tagovailoa on Wednesday... Skylar Thompson completed a long touchdown pass to Braylon Sanders... Connor Williams, Zach Sieler and Tyreek Hill were not spotted at the voluntary practice ... McDaniel, a Colorado native, is pulling for the Heat over the Nuggets. This, even though he once had a Nuggets season-ticket plan.... McDaniel said he chose six OTA's over a maximum of 10 because he's wants focus on convicted, present, deliberate approach to the practices... Noah Igbinoghene had an interception of James Blackman.
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at.jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tua Tagovailoa's wearing a camera on the side of his helmet. Where's what it means.
