MIAMI — Frank Smith was submerged, deep into a 5 a.m. film study and game-planning session when the Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator was startled by the voice of the quarterback he and the staff were laboring — if not struggling — to replace.

“Morning boss,” Tua Tagovailoa said with a cup of coffee in hand the Monday morning Miami was beginning preparation for a week 5 road game against the New England Patriots.

Tagovailoa had already missed two games — two losses — because of the concussion he suffered in Miami’s week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills and Miami’s Pro Bowl quarterback had two more games to sit out because of the injury reserve designation the team placed on him so his brain had time to properly heal.

Since the Dolphins’ franchise quarterback had plenty of time — five weeks exactly — on his hands he figured he’d get some long-standing questions he had answered?

“He asked a lot of questions that time, like ‘What do you do in the morning? Why are you here so early? What convinces a coach to think that you need to be here at this time?’” Smith said this week recalling the month old conversations.

“‘What do you guys do? How do you get to this process?’” Smith said, recalling Tagovailoa’s questions. “Like everything!”

Diving deep into Miami’s offense

That talk, and the sit downs that followed for the ensuing weeks, which included numerous coaches, and sit-ins with different position groups, provided Tagovailoa a glimpse at the bigger picture.

The goal was to gain an even deeper perspective, and maybe appreciation, for how the Dolphins’ offensive game plan gets built each week, and the challenges each unit faces.

He also had a chance to provide some of his own input, helping to customize the offense for particular quarterbacks, and for his return Sunday.

“When you’re playing, you get the plan and you go about [doing your job],” Smith continued. “He’d be out there [asking], ‘What are you looking at today? Why? What [specifically] are you seeing?’ Then we’d have a dialog. That was fun. It was coach Tua.”

Fortunately for Miami, the Dolphins get Tagovailoa the quarterback back on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals (3-4), and the hope is that he won’t just stay healthy for the remainder of the regular season, but that he’ll inject life into Miami’s lifeless offense.

Tagovailoa has always had a presence about him, a command of his huddle, his team, the locker room, an aura.

From those who’ve interacted with him the past month, it seems like his time away from the game turned the volume up on his grasp of the offense, the organization, and his teammates. And most importantly, his leadership.

“As a quarterback, you have so many things on your plate and you see the world through your own eyes,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “This process gave him an opportunity to see the problems of other people ...

“It really forces you to get outside your own experience is the way that we’ve kind of talked about it.”

That’s how Tagovailoa turned a negative situation into a positive, and the hope is that when he returns to the field he’ll help Miami’s offense get out of neutral, scoring more than the league-low 11.6 points a game the Dolphins have put up this season.

“It’s been frustrating. Frustrating for sure, but I’ve tried to stay in it meetings with the guys, trying to continue to be the leader for guys in multiple position rooms in terms of what we’re looking at,” said Tagovailoa, who has a career-low 78.9 passer rating. “How can you make the quarterback’s job a little easier by doing this, by doing that, and then also [learning] some nuances within the offense as well.”

Growth was made

In his absence, the Dolphins’ rushing attack found its footing, gaining 193 rushing yards against the Patriots and 149 rushing yards against the Colts.

“He’s been in every room, adding his input and gaining a greater knowledge and understanding of the game,” Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead said. “He’s been a big driving force behind our run game and challenged us.”

Miami began the process of finding the balance that fueled the team’s top ranked offense the past two seasons with Tagovailoa at the helm. Now the question is whether it will complement the passing game with Tagovailoa at the trigger.

Pair a respectable offense with how stingy Miami’s defense (ranked fourth in yards allowed) has been, particularly against the pass (ranked first in passing yards allowed), and on third downs (ranked first), and the Dolphins might be able to turn this season around if the offense starts putting up points, and injuries don’t decimate anymore units.

Getting Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, who are each off to the worst starts in their NFL careers courtesy of life without their Pro Bowl quarterback, more involved likely sits atop Tagovailoa’s agenda.

But the Dolphins also need to find and incorporate a third receiver, whether it’s Odell Beckham Jr., a 10-year veteran who is working his way back from a knee injury, or Malik Washington, a 2024 sixth-round pick who is being asked to step up because of the season-ending knee injury Braxton Berrios suffered last week.

Miami has also labored to get the tight ends more involved in the offense. The performance Jonnu Smith had last week against the Colts, catching a team-high seven passes for 97 yards and scoring a touchdown, hints that they’re close.

And now it’s on Tagovailoa to pick up where the offense left off when he left.

But the Dolphins coaches and players are confident that their franchise quarterback will bring back a level of efficiency to McDaniel and Smith’s offense.

“He’s Tua!” Smith said. “I know he’ll be ready to go when the game starts on Sunday.”

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