Former Alabama QB’s initial impression of All-American teammate: ‘Who is this psychopath?’

After Miami obtained safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in an NFL trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers on June 30, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said on Wednesday that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had shared his first impression of his former Alabama teammate: “Who is this psychopath?”

“He told me his first on-field impression, which was hilarious,” McDaniel said. “As a freshman, they’re running gassers, and they’re gutted. And as a freshman, you have a bunch of peers, upperclassmen that you’re trying to prove yourself towards. And then Minkah, just this silent dude in meeting rooms, all of a sudden blacks out, starts talking about overtime and talking all sorts of -- not a bad word -- but stuff, all sorts of that, and pushing his entire team. And Tua was like: Who’s this psychopath? I fear him.

“First day on the job, before any practice. You got to condition to see where people are at, and it took one team moment for him to feel his impact. So that was a cool story because it was like one of his first memories as a college-football participant. They weren’t playing football. It was just conditioning. But I think it speaks to the type of impact that a player who reserves his work -- he’s a soft-spoken guy -- but he plays the game the way we envision playing it.”