Tua Tagovailoa discusses highly anticipated showdown vs. former Bama teammate Jalen Hurts

Sunday night will be a reunion for quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa after the pair were teammates at Alabama in 2017 and 2018.

Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa discussed the meeting between Miami (5-1) and Philadelphia (5-1) earlier this week, noting that he has "a lot of respect for Jalen."

Per OddsChecker, Tagovailoa (+350) is the favorite to win MVP. Hurts (+1000) is tied with 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy for fourth-best odds.

"He's been a great competitor since I got there to Alabama," Tagovailoa said, per NFL.com's Nick Shook.

Hurts was Alabama's starting quarterback from 2016-17, leading the program to the national championship game both years.

He struggled in both title games, however, going 13-of-31 for 131 yards and a touchdown in a 35-31 loss to Clemson in January 2017, then going 3-of-8 for 21 yards before being benched for Tagovailoa in the January 2018 College Football Playoff Championship Game.

Tagovailoa engineered a remarkable second-half comeback that season and held on to the starting role afterward, leading Hurts to transfer to Oklahoma for the 2019 season.

"I mean, there's different ways to skin the cat, right? Many different ways," Tagovailoa said. "He went down a different road than I did to get to where I'm at. And he had to go down a different road to get to where he's at. But like I said, I got a lot of respect for him — who he is as a person who he is as a player and wish him the best of luck as we play him."

Their diverging paths extended to the NFL Draft, where Tagovailoa was selected No. 5 overall in 2020. Hurts, meanwhile, waited until the second round (53rd overall) to hear his name called during the same draft.

After following Hurts' footsteps at Alabama, Tagovailoa is looking to do the same in the NFL. Despite being the less sought-after prospect out of college, Hurts led Philadelphia to Super Bowl LVII last season. Tagovailoa is looking to do the same this year with a Miami team that has the best offense in football, averaging 37.2 points per game.