Miami waited six years for Tua Tagovailoa to deliver a playoff win. It never came. Then, in his first trip back wearing Falcons colors, he helped Atlanta leave Hard Rock Stadium with a 17-12 win. Tua completed 7 of 8 passes before exiting in the second quarter, giving Dolphins fans one more reason to hate how the whole thing played out.

“I thought Tua did a nice job operating, obviously moving the football for a couple of drives,” Kevin Stefanski said after the game, according to reporter Marc Raimondi. “Plenty to clean up. An avoidable center-to-quarterback exchange. We have to clean that up. And we will. I thought by and large, [he] operated.”

Tua’s biggest play came on a four-yard screen to Kyle Pitts, who turned it into a 43-yard gain against Miami’s spread-out defense.

Tagovailoa then fumbled a snap, which Miami recovered, but Stefanski still backed him. That kind of support was missing early in his Dolphins career under Brian Flores, whose criticism reportedly shook Tua’s confidence.

Under Flores, he in 2020 recorded 1,814 yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Then in 2021, he started 12 of 13 games and had 2,653 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

But then, after the coaching change under Mike McDaniel, Tagovailoa’s performance improved a lot.

In 2022, he started all 13 games he played and threw for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. In 2023, he played all 17 games and had an even better season, throwing for 4,624 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. His 4,624 passing yards were the most in the NFL that year, showing how much his game had improved under McDaniel.

But Miami decided to move on, even though they still owed him $52 million in the 2026 season. Tua’s return to Miami got ugly fast.

The boos did not stop inside Hard Rock Stadium. Dolphins fans carried the frustration onto social media, with one writing, “Tua struggling in a QB competition against himself 😂,” while another added, “He’s been trying to clean this stuff up for 6 years.”

And Tua is hardly the first quarterback to learn how quickly fan loyalty can turn. Brett Favre spent 16 seasons in Green Bay, revived the franchise and helped bring a Super Bowl title back to the Packers. But when he returned to Lambeau in 2009 wearing a Minnesota Vikings jersey, the same fanbase greeted him with loud boos, whistles and hostile signs. Favre still led Minnesota to a 38-26 win, proving that for NFL fans, loyalty to the team often comes before loyalty to the player.

Tagovailoa now has a different problem to solve. He split reps with Cooper Rush and Jack Strand, but his real competition is Michael Penix Jr. for Atlanta’s starting job. Penix’s recovery from knee surgery gave Tua extra opportunities to make his case.

With Penix fully cleared and the preseason over, Tua has made his case. Now the decision belongs to Stefanski, and his praise in Miami may be the clearest sign yet that Tagovailoa remains firmly in the QB1 fight.