MIAMI GARDENS — Tua Tagovailoa was not at the Miami Dolphins organized team activity practice open to media on Tuesday afternoon.

But there's no cause for panic. It's not about his contract negotiation.

No, Tua had previously committed to attend a charity golf tournament for former Alabama coach Nick Saban.

Tua Tagovailoa absent from voluntary OTA's on Tuesday

So, instead, we watched Mike White, Skylar Thompson and Gavin Hardison split reps.

Not much to report there.

Tight end Jody Fortson had a nice catch and appears to be a valuable third down and goal line option.

Rookie Jaylen Wright vomited near the end of practice.

But much bigger news in South Florida is how Tua is smaller now.

Yes, it has seemed quite obvious for some time that Tua has dropped 10 or 15 pounds this offseason.

And coach Mike McDaniel confirmed Tuesday it's by design.

"That was a big year, this past season, for Tua, being able to play the entirety of it," McDaniel said. “Two years in a row with the same offensive play caller. And in that process, you get to find out on your own exactly where there's different areas where you can improve your game. That's something that, you know, the we directly relate, you know, him and I, in terms of looking for those competitive advantages. So I think he identified that as one for himself. And, you know, I think the results speak for themselves. He's svelte."

Last year, Tua bulked up in order to help protect himself.

This year, McDaniel has identified buying extra time and extending plays at times as a goal.

Tua has previously downplayed how fit he is now.

But he's also worked with a private quarterback coach.

So even though he's led the league in passing yards and led the league in passer rating, Tua continues to work to improve himself.

McDaniel did not seem overly concerned about Tua having missed some voluntary spring sessions earlier this offseason.

"I think, you know, important in the player-coach relationship is communication," McDaniel said. "And, you know, I think, however, things play out, as long as we're communicating, and we're on our P's and Q's and what we need to get accomplished, then we have a fighting chance. And it's been a good exercise in our relationship this offseason."

McDaniel also confirmed that he largely avoids contract talk with Tua.

"I don't want any of that burden in my life," McDaniel said. "This is, I'm an asset, this is what's great about the orchestration of our organization. You know, I think it's important that the player-coach relationship is put on a pedestal where you don't, you don't tinker with that. My job is to get him better. His job is to communicate with me how I'm doing in that process. And I think we're in a safe zone where, when he's talking to me about my expertise and not about stuff that is not my expertise. So we try to stay true to that. And that's paid us dividends."

Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tua Tagovailoa is in great shape and his coach Mike McDaniel seems pleased