STEPHEN A. Smith isn’t a fan of Tua Tagovailoa’s offseason transformation.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback lost 25 pounds this offseason to add more mobility to his game, but Stephen A. is worried about it.
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Tua strengthened for the 2023 season in an effort to increase his durability, and after playing in all 17 games, he decided to lose weight.
On Thursday’s episode of First Take, Stephen A. said Tua losing weight was not a good thing.
“I don’t like it,” said Stephen A..
“He’s relatively small to begin with, and I know I’m talking in terms of height to girth.
“This is the National Football League. You have grown men with a lot of meat coming towards you trying to take your head off.
“At the quarterback position, when you drop back to pass, you have to take some shots.
“The lighter you are in the back, the more susceptible you are to being pulled out.
“That’s what the NFL players told me, that’s what they told me.”
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While Stephen A. seemed concerned about Tua’s weight, members of the Miami Dolphins are happy to see his transformation.
“Honestly, it’s just Tua trying to find another level of play and another level of being a professional,” coach Mike McDaniel said.
“It happens to a lot of players that suddenly you become pseudo-nutritionists several years into your career, but definitely not at the beginning.
“Seeing ways he could maintain strength but create a little more flexibility and power, or however you want to look at it… It wasn’t about fixing something that needed fixing.
“It was an opportunity to improve, in his mind, I think.”
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill even said he was concerned about Tua’s weight late last season.
“I’m not going to lie, when I saw Tua at the Pro Bowl, I was kind of scared — the guy was fucking fat,” Hill told reporters.
“He was fat, he was chubby. I was like, ‘Wait, bro. Wait, bro.’ Ryan Clark said you were kind of stupid, he wasn’t lying.
“But seeing him now and where he came from and how skinny he got – what is this thing that everyone is taking? Ozempic? He had to be taking it, I don’t know.”
The Dolphins are trying to take the next step by finally winning a playoff game, and it appears Tua is trying everything he can to elevate his game.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
