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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa responded to feedback made by ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark relating to his offseason work ethic, asking Clark to maintain “my identify out your mouth.”

Clark joked Monday on “NFL Dwell” that Tagovailoa “wasn’t within the gymnasium, I will wager you that. He would possibly spend a whole lot of time within the tattoo parlor. He was not on the dinner desk consuming what the nutritionist had suggested.” He additionally joked that Tagovailoa was “thick” and in contrast him to ladies working at a strip membership.

When requested about his feedback on social media, Clark clarified that he was joking and stood by what he stated.

“I 100% take accountability for it!! I stated it!! I meant it!! It was a joke!!” Clark wrote Tuesday on X, previously generally known as Twitter. “If requested why I stated it by Tua I’d inform him. I’ve 0 points wanting a person within the eye and telling my fact. I settle for any consequence.”

Tagovailoa was requested about Clark’s feedback following the Dolphins’ apply Wednesday and made it clear he did not respect the joke.

“I imply, he most likely is aware of extra about me than I find out about myself. I do not know, Ryan’s been out of the league for a while,” Tagovailoa stated. “It is a little bit bizarre when individuals are speaking about different folks once they’re not that particular person. I come from a Samoan household; respect is every thing.

“But it surely does get to a degree the place, hey, you already know, little simple on that, buddy. I feel we’re fairly tough-minded folks, and if we have to get scrappy we are able to get scrappy too. Simply saying.”

Tagovailoa bulked as much as 238 kilos at one level this offseason earlier than slicing right down to 225 earlier than coaching camp on the finish of July. He was listed at 217 kilos in the course of the 2022 season.

His offseason consisted of a weight-training program in addition to a jiu-jitsu break-fall routine. The aim of every was to arrange his physique to play a full season — which he has not achieved since getting into the league in 2020.

Tagovailoa stated he and his teammates all labored arduous this offseason, including that the muscle acquire was one thing he did not essentially need, however wanted.

“I am not one to speak about myself your entire time however I imply, it takes rather a lot,” Tagovailoa stated. “You suppose I wished to construct all this muscle? Like, I wished to be a little bit lighter. There is a combination of issues that folks do not perceive, that folks do not find out about, which are talked about behind the scenes.

“So, you already know, I would respect it in case you stored my identify out your mouth. That is what I would say.”