Tua Tagovailoa has practiced with a video camera on his helmet this offseason. On Thursday, he appeared to make light of the new protocol.
Thus far, the Miami Dolphins quarterback has worn a small camera on the side. As ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques showed, Tagovailoa decided to go bigger, placing a Polaroid-style camera on top of his helmet.
Onlookers laughed at the new headgear, which they assumed was either Tagovailoa or head coach Mike McDaniel poking fun at the original helmet cam.
“This looks like some epic trolling,” NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe said. “Tua gave a review of some pros (audio for new guys to review) and cons (integrity of huddle exposed to coaches) of helmet cam yesterday.”
This looks like some epic trolling.
Tua gave a review of some pros (audio for new guys to review) and cons (integrity of huddle exposed to coaches) of helmet cam yesterday. Got a whole Polaroid on his head today just during early warmups. https://t.co/BaQ5OqzPuQ
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) June 8, 2023
“McDaniel’s such an innovator we’ve moved on to helmet Polaroid,” a fan said.
McDaniel’s such an innovator we’ve moved on to helmet Polaroid https://t.co/RnndROOjWj
— Rob Slater (@RobSlater10) June 8, 2023
“I NEED to see the photos,” a fan pleaded.
I NEED to see the photos https://t.co/zkcnYhmIw7
— WhatTheHunt (@WhatTheHunt) June 8, 2023
“This is hilarious,” another fan said. “How any Dolphins fan doesn’t love the guy is beyond me.”
This is hilarious. How any Dolphins fan doesn’t love the guy is beyond me. https://t.co/TWALZYaG9F
— Bill Powell (@Hamilax) June 8, 2023
McDaniel said Tagovailoa is wearing the helmet equipment so coaches can “see exactly what he’s seeing.” That includes inside the huddle, which the quarterback expressed some hesitations about.
“You think of the integrity of the huddle, like, ‘Man, do I really want, you know, the coaches to hear what I’m saying to the guys?'” Tagovailoa said, per Pro Football Network. “Because sometimes you might not like a play, and you go into it, and it’s like, you know, you tell the guys how you feel, but you basically tell the guy, ‘Hey, I’m skipping this progression to come to you, so you better be there.'”
The 25-year-old Tagovailoa probably isn’t old enough to have ever used a camera that size, so maybe Miami’s staff jokingly responded to those comments with a more intrusive surveillance device.