Tua Tagovailoa on coach Mike McDaniel: Having someone that believes in you makes all the difference

Shortly after the Miami Dolphins announced Mike McDaniel as the newest coach in franchise history, the team was posting videos of him calling quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, talking about how excited he was to work with the third-year signal caller from Alabama.

Sunday’s 30-15 win over the Houston Texans marked the fifth-straight game Tagovailoa threw for at least 260 yards. Last season under coach Brian Flores, he threw for more than 260 yards just three times in 13 games.

“Having someone that first off believes in you makes all the difference,” Tagovailoa said when talking to CBS following Sunday’s win over Houston. “Having someone that calls me randomly just telling me how much I mean to him and the things that he’s trying to accomplish and we’re trying to accomplish as a team, it's cool.

“I've never had that, I’ve never experienced that. this is my first time experiencing that kind of relationship with someone that is the head coach of an organization — love that guy.”

Tagovailoa has thrown 19 touchdown passes on the year, which is already a career-high, and the Dolphins control their own destiny with a record of 8-3. With that being said, McDaniel’s fresh perspective hasn’t prevented Tagovailoa from wanting to get better, even after a big win.

“We have a lot to continue to work on,” Tagovailoa said. “It's hard when you're hot and then go into the bye, you're coming off the bye and trying to resurge what you've been doing the last three weeks. Finishing is one [thing we need to improve on], but offensively we have to be able to communicate better, and we have to finish drives. We had many opportunities to do that today but we didn't. it's a great way to learn — winning.”

The Dolphins have little time to sharpen the offense with a trip to face the San Francisco 49ers on the agenda for Week 13.