Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa apologized on Wednesday for his statements after Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, where he criticized his teammates for being late to exclusive player meetings. Tagovailoa began his Wednesday press conference by retracting his comments and taking responsibility for the impact they had on his teammates.
The player added: “We talk a lot about, ‘Okay, we have to make this work, come excited to work, forget the noise.’ And I feel like I just added that for our guys.” The Dolphins’ leader acknowledged that he should have protected the team more and not let the emotions of the game affect him. He believes that what happened in the locker room should have been kept private. After Sunday’s defeat, Tagovailoa was asked how to prevent players from feeling discouraged after a 1-5 start to the season. The quarterback pointed out that the team’s leadership needed to clearly establish expectations for the rest of the team, and that those expectations needed to be met. According to Tagovailoa, “We have guys who are late to exclusive player meetings, guys who don’t show up to exclusive player meetings. There’s a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory?” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stated on Monday that Tagovailoa’s comments were “misguided” and made in an inappropriate forum. Several players, including Rasul Douglas, Aaron Brewer, and Patrick Paul, chose not to comment on Tagovailoa’s public message on Sunday, arguing that team matters should be handled internally. Defensive tackle Zach Sieler, who is team captain like Tagovailoa, stated that everyone is “entitled to their opinion”, but preferred not to criticize the quarterback. McDaniel assured that he has had no problems with the players’ attendance at team meetings, and that Tagovailoa’s comments only referred to the exclusive sessions for players. The Dolphins had problems with delays and absences in team activities in previous seasons, but several players and coaches assure that those problems are now a thing of the past. Tagovailoa explained that his original comments stemmed from frustration, and that conversations with his teammates opened him up to perspectives he hadn’t considered before. Miami’s poor start to the season is the worst since 2021, when they started 1-7 before finishing 9-8 and one game away from the AFC playoffs. Tagovailoa believes the adversity the Dolphins are currently facing teaches players a lot about each other, but this difficult start hasn’t divided them yet. In their own words: “I would say that, first of all, you can see who a person really is when you’re going through difficulties, right? You can see, ‘Okay, does this person start pointing fingers? Does this person take responsibility every time? How does everyone do that?’ I think you can also get a good idea of the team you have with that.” The quarterback concluded by saying: “But I would say there haven’t been any fights or pointing fingers lately. There are just guys who put their heads down, try to work, and do the best they can to put us in the best position to win games.”I made a mistake and I’m owning up to it right now. I’ve talked to the guys on the team about this, I talked to the leaders about this, and they know how I feel. They know the intention was good. But regardless of the intention… when things are misinterpreted or however the media wants to portray it, that leaves a void of silence and many questions for the guys on our team now that we’re 1-5.
Tua Tagovailoa
