MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins just had right tackle Austin Jackson secure himself a three-year, $36 million extension that will, barring any unforeseen circumstance, keep him with Miami through 2026.
This coming offseason, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could see his big contract, as he is having a second straight successful season under coach Mike McDaniel — this time proving he can also stay healthy, set to make a 13th consecutive start to begin the 2023 season when his Dolphins take on the Tennessee Titans on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium. Tagovailoa is under the fifth-year option to his rookie deal for next season, but the Dolphins could decide to secure him long term.
There’s a common thread between their two journeys.
Yes, they were both 2020 first-round draft picks by the Dolphins, but beyond that, they were maligned through their first two NFL seasons, while coach Brian Flores still had the reins of the organization.
It’s not some magical dust McDaniel has that got the best out of Tagovailoa and Jackson to get their careers onto the trajectory that was expected after Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and company used top selections in a pivotal draft on them.
McDaniel’s approach with players instills confidence in them and bodes well for their development.
“Everyone is receiving what Chris Grier, (CEO) Tom Garfinkel, (senior vice president of football and business administration) Brandon Shore and Mr. Ross (Dolphins owner Stephen Ross), they decided to hire,” McDaniel said Saturday.
“Out of the gate, I have a strong connection with what the job is. To me, the job as a coach is to coach and to maximize players’ ability. You do that by having a lot of people who are like-minded, as coaches, going after it the same way. Then, you have to have the right roster where guys are actually interested in doing whatever it takes to be their best selves.”
But McDaniel, the humble man that he is, doesn’t accept all the credit.
“When things don’t go well, your job is to take that all on your shoulders. That’s the responsibility,” he said. “But all the successes, it’s the furthest thing from just me. I can’t do anything on my own at all. Even if I said something awesome that was unbelievably the best thing that anyone’s ever heard, someone has to listen to it and buy into it.
“There’s a lot of people invested not only in themselves, but in each other and their stories. When you’re doing that, you’re kind of really capturing the essence of why you even want to be on a football team in general, which is really, really cool.”
Tagovailoa has spoken openly about how refreshing McDaniel’s coaching style has been compared to the rough and tough — at times, apparently, disparaging — approach of Flores. In communicating Thursday how happy he was for Jackson, who protects his blind side in the pocket, Tagovailoa revealed the offensive lineman was often the subject of the same vile criticism he once received inside team facilities.
“I just smile because of where he’s come from early when we got here together,” Tagovailoa said. “There’s a lot of things that have been said about him in front of team meetings, in the media and things like that. So, I’m just happy. I don’t want to get choked up about it. What he’s done is tremendous. I’m very proud of him.”
McDaniel could’ve come in with a preconceived notion of Jackson off his first two NFL seasons, which were largely inconsistent, but he didn’t and invested in making him the best lineman he could.
“He definitely took the time to really see who I was as a player with his own eyes,” Jackson said of McDaniel. “People could’ve ran with whatever they thought they knew about me coming in here to our situation at the time. He really just took the time to sit down with me, sit down and talk with the team. He’s given me every opportunity and every tool to be great, so I’m thankful for that. It makes me really work hard, and I appreciate that.”
The fruits of McDaniel’s system for Jackson weren’t seen until their second year together. Jackson had back-to-back ankle injuries sideline him for all but two games in a key third season that led to Jackson’s fifth-year option being declined. Now, Jackson is in line to be with the Dolphins through his seventh season.
It’s not just Tagovailoa saying how it was when he first got to Miami under Flores. In Tagovailoa’s rookie season, Ryan Fitzpatrick was in the same quarterbacks room with him. Now a commentator with Amazon Prime Video, Fitzpatrick made telling remarks about Tagovailoa’s first NFL season before Thursday night’s broadcast of the Patriots-Steelers game, with young New England quarterback Mac Jones the subject of conversation.
“Tua Tagovailoa, who I was with, Brian Flores — same New England way — he was broken from Brian Flores, the way that he treated him, the way that he coached him,” Fitzpatrick said on air. “And what happened? Mike McDaniel comes in. He restores his confidence. He gets him back in. Now, he’s an MVP candidate.”
Said left tackle Terron Armstead of McDaniel’s approach: “Letting guys be confident, play to their strengths. I think Mike does a great job of understanding his personnel and then understanding the person outside of football. When you get that dynamic — and we’ve got a very family-oriented place, very family-oriented environment we have — so we play for each other. That’s what makes us a really good team, regardless of the talent and the scheme.”
Armstead added that Jackson is not content just earning this contract. He is motivated to strive for more in what once looked like a bust and now appears to be a promising career blossoming.
