MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Sunday's matchup between Tua Tagovailoa's Miami Dolphins and Drake Maye's New England Patriots could be the first of many. Tagovailoa signed a long-term deal with the Dolphins this offseason, and based on how Maye has played in seven games, Tagovailoa expects he could be going against the No.
3 pick in this year's draft for a long time. “I respect his game a lot,” Tagovailoa said. “He’s a rookie, so there’s going to be bumps within his journey, but you see a lot of flashes of things that he can do, not just inside the pocket, outside of the pocket as well.
I’ve got a lot of respect for him and looking forward to competing against him.” Maye will first need to help the Patriots get past their division rivals — a matchup that has lately been one-sided in the Dolphins' favor. Tagovailoa is 6-0 in his career against the Patriots.
And Miami coach Mike McDaniel is 4-1 against New England. “It means nothing for this week,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “I think the biggest setup in the National Football League is praise or overindulgence into stats of former teams,” he added.
“It is the Miami Dolphins versus the New England Patriots on Sunday.” This year's Dolphins (4-6) have won two straight and are still hoping to make a playoff run, while the Patriots (3-8) have made clear this is a rebuilding year. The Dolphins beat the host Patriots 15-10 in Week 5 without Tagovailoa, who was on injured reserve with a concussion.
The Patriots .
