Finally, a meeting nearly 14 months in the making. The Miami Dolphins met with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa this week at the 2020 NFL Combine and, according to sources from Safid Deen of the Sun Sentinel, the Dolphins’ tone didn’t exactly give Tagovailoa a case of the warm and fuzzies. Instead, Deen’s sources indicate that the Dolphins were a bit icy in their first meeting.

Perhaps they wanted to be formal. Perhaps they wanted to avoid tipping their hand to potential trade partners. But apparently the meeting left the gifted left-hander from Alabama a bit confused as to whether or not the Dolphins actually want him.

Deen’s source indicated that Tagovailoa felt as though Miami gave him no indication that he was “their guy.”

“No one was excited,” wrote Deen, according to his source. “They didn’t give any indication of ‘he’s their guy.’ He felt weird, “like is this a joke?”‘

While the report may seem to be troubling, at the end of the day, the Dolphins are meeting Tua, like almost every other player, for the first time this week. If the expectation from the Tagovailoa camp was anything other than a formal meeting, it’s easy to imagine why he’d be caught off-guard by Miami’s approach.

But a reserved Dolphins brass really doesn’t indicate anything other than the Dolphins continuing to conduct their work, business as usual and without emotional attachments early in the process. That’s not a joke, nor is it abnormal. And for Tagovailoa, it is a valuable learning experience.

Presume nothing. Because all of the reports of Miami’s affection will ultimately mean nothing until the Dolphins declare themselves in a trade-up situation or turn in a card that says his name. Then, and only then, will he officially be “their guy.”