Ryan Clark’s bit was good for a laugh on the set at ESPN, even if it won’t seem funny to South Florida.
Speaking on the network’s NFL Live studio coverage, Clark ripped Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, accusing him of not working out this offseason, of not following the team nutritionist’s recommendations and of, well, being fat.
“Let me tell you what he wasn’t doing: He wasn’t in the gym, I’ll bet you that,” Clark said.
Clark was only getting warmed up while soaking in laughter from the other panelists.
“He might spend a lot of time in the tattoo parlor,” Clark said. “He was not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised. He looks ‘happy.’ He is thick. He’s built like the girls working at Onyx right now.”
Clark did not mean “happy” in a good way. And Onyx is a strip club in Atlanta.
The Dolphins, needless to say, have an entirely different take on Tagovailoa and his preparation for this season. Coaches, teammates and Tagovailoa himself have consistently remarked about how hard he has worked to better prepare his body for the rigors of a 17-game NFL season. Coincidentally and possibly without any knowledge of Clark’s comments, Dolphins quarterback coach Darrell Bevell praised Tagovailoa while meeting with reporters Tuesday morning.
“You have to give credit to Tua for all of the stuff that he’s done in the offseason to prepare himself,” Bevell said.
Bevell added, “I expect him to have a great year. You know, I thought he was on track to do that last year. And we’ve talked a lot about obviously being on the field for all the games and I think he’s really taken that to heart and done the things that he needs to to at least put him in a position to be able to do that.”
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After suffering at least two concussions last season, including one that ended his season after a Christmas Day game against Green Bay, Tagovailoa famously took up jiu-jitsu to learn how to protect himself when he falls. There’s more.
“Just a lot of heavier weights,” Tagovailoa said three weeks ago. “A lot more reps with the heavier weights, things like that. But everything that I did this offseason entailed to what would keep me on the field for the entirety of the season. We understand that freaky things can happen. It’s football. It’s a physical sport. Not everything that you prepare for is what you’re going to get. So, I did the best that I could to get myself ready and prepped for this season as far as injuries go.”
Looking for clarification from ESPN
It’s possible, if not likely, Clark was just spouting opinions based on observations of Tagovailoa. But were his assertions that Tagovailoa didn’t hit the gym and was careless at the dinner table based on inside knowledge? ESPN did not immediately respond to a request from The Post for clarification.
Tagovailoa’s trainer, Nick Hicks, took a poke at Clark on social media, writing, “Very strange preference in exotic dancers .. I for one do not enjoy them looking like elite football players.”
Clark had a 13-year NFL career at safety, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers starting in 2006. He has won a Sports Emmy as outstanding personality/studio analyst. It’s possible his feelings for Tagovailoa pre-date their NFL connections. Clark attended LSU; Tagovailoa went to Alabama.
Clark’s reference to a tattoo parlor were because Tagovailoa added an elaborate tattoo covering much of one arm.
“It’s a piece that represents my first child,” Tagovailoa said. “There’s a lot of things that go on behind it, a lot of cultural significance, a lot of things that have to do with protection, guidance. Sort of things like that that we believe in the Samoan culture.”
As for Clark’s claim about Tagovailoa ignoring his nutritionist, two weeks ago, Tagovailoa addressed that without getting into specifics.
“Yeah, I changed my diet up a little bit,” he said. “But outside of that, it was what it was. Like I said, I’ve just been trying to give myself the best opportunity to hopefully not get injured.”
The Dolphins list Tagovailoa at 6-feet-1, 227 pounds. Last season’s final roster had him at 6-1, 217.
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Tagovailoa took a hit last weekend against the Houston Texans but did not fall in a way that would have exposed his head to injury.
“You just have to continue to rep it,” Tagovailoa said. “We do some things at the facility that help keep up with that. But it’s football. There’s hits that you’re going to see that you know you can fall and then there’s others where you’re not going to be able to see, and it’s how you react to it. It’s a physical sport. It’s tough. But yeah, went out there and was expecting to get hit, was expecting to go to the ground, all of that.”
Ironically, of his two backups, Mike White ended up in concussion protocol and Skylar Thompson was checked but cleared to finish the game.
Tagovailoa also switched to the new quarterback-specific helmet designed to better protect their heads.
Tagovailoa saw his first action in 237 days against the Texans. He threw an interception on his first play, giving the Texans the ball on the Miami 7-yard line, but rebounded to finish 5-of-7 for 61 yards. He was 3-for-3 to convert third downs while leading a 14-play, 93-yard touchdown drive in his only other series.
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tua Tagovailoa unfit? Dolphins disagree with rant by ESPN’s Ryan Clark