After Miami defeated Carolina 42-21 on Sunday, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa shared a long embrace on the field with Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. He had some things to say to the rookie – one former Alabama All-American quarterback to another.

What did Tagovailoa tell Young?

“The conversation that I felt like if I was on the other side of the ball I would want someone to tell me,” Tagovailoa said. “I think he’s doing a tremendous job. There’s going to be times where you’re going to make mistakes because you’re a rookie, and there’s things that when he plays the next game that he wish he knew this game. And he’ll continue to grow from that, and I just told him to keep the press, the naysayers, all the people — that’s just external factors, they’re going to say what they’re going to say. But you continue to believe in yourself, you continue to do the right things, you’re going to go far.”

Winless Carolina had a 14-0 lead on the highest-scoring team in the NFL until Tagovailoa shifted Miami’s offense into gear in the second quarter.

The Panthers moved 64 yards in seven plays for a touchdown on their second possession, with a 27-yard completion from Young to wide receiver Adam Thielen kicking off the drive.

On its next possession, Carolina went 74 yards in 10 plays for another touchdown, with Young connecting with Thielen from 8 yards out for the score.

“Just two drives, really Bryce was super sharp,” Carolina coach Frank Reich said. “The offense was good. We were protecting well, running the ball well, mixing it, feeling like we should feel.”

But the Panthers’ offense didn’t get into the end zone again. Carolina’s third touchdown came on a 61-yard interception return by cornerback Troy Hill. The interception came off Miami backup QB Mike White after Tagovailoa had put the game away.

“We don’t get to that point just because it happened for a quarter,” Young said. “We have to earn the right to make it consistent. We have to earn the right to make sure that that’s not a flash, that that’s not a good couple of series. We have to earn the right to make that be who were are.”

Tagovailoa entered the game with the most passing yards in the NFL, and against the Panthers, he completed 21-of-31 passes for 262 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

“This is one of the best week’s of practice that I’ve seen overall from all our guys,” Tagovailoa said. “And it says a lot with how we’ve come down from a 14-0 deficit and sort of overturned that entire deal into what it was.”

All three TD passes came in the second quarter as Miami took a 21-14 lead into halftime. Tagovailoa’s touchdowns went 3 yards to running back Rakeem Mostert, 4 yards to former Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle and 41 yards to former West Alabama standout Tyreek Hill.

“We know their offense, when they get hot they’re hard to stop,” Reich said. “They got some big-time playmakers. I mean, Tyreek, he hits that thing running it looks different and it feels different. He goes into that motion and is hitting it full speed, you can watch that on film, but when you feel it on the field, I mean, he’s a difference-maker. Obviously, he had a huge day.”

Hill had six receptions for 163 yards on Sunday as he reached 814 receiving yards in 2023 – the most in the first six games of a season in NFL history.

“It helps having someone like him that anytime you get pressed there’s a possible signal you can give him or a possible eye-contact deal you can give him,” Tagovailoa said, “and working through those things in practice and having those conversations where’s its ‘That’s not even what we called, but as long as you guys know what you’re doing, I trust that you guys are going to make it work.’ That’s what these past two years have done for quarterback-to-receiver, that sort of relationship.”

Carolina came up short of a fake punt and missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt in the first half, and Young had three fourth-down incompletions in the second half.

“We had a few opportunities to score more points that we didn’t convert,” Reich said.

Young completed 23-of-37 passes for 217 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked four times. Tagovailoa was not sacked.

“I think he’s getting better every week,” Reich said. “I thought he was seeing the field very well today. … Really like the direction that he’s going, and the offense overall has to be better, but there’s some positive things there.”

Carolina doesn’t play again until Oct. 29, when the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Young, will lead Carolina against the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, C.J. Stroud, and the Houston Texans. The Panthers are on their bye in Week 7.

The 5-1 Dolphins will visit the Philadelphia Eagles, who carried a unbeaten record into Sunday afternoon’s game with the New York Jets. Tagovailoa and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts were teammates at Alabama.

“It’s going to be good,” Tagovailoa said. “I got a lot of respect for Jalen. I think this is a game that a lot of people are going to want to see given the talent that’s on that side of the ball, the talent that’s on this side of the ball, and then it’s one of those where it’s, OK, we got a lot of good matchups across the board. How are these guys going to play us? How are we going to come out against these guys? So we’re really excited for this next opponent.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.