By being fully transparent, Tua Tagovailoa might have talked himself out of town.
Following his team's 29-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, the Miami Dolphins quarterback didn’t shoulder the blame. Instead, the former No. 5 overall draft pick gave an eyebrow-raising peek behind the curtain. One that, considering the circumstances, might mean the Dolphins have to decide whether Tagovailoa or head coach Mike McDaniel are more useful going forward.
“I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys, and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tagovailoa said. “Right? We’re expecting this. Are we getting that? Are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late, guys showing up to player-only meetings. There’s a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory?"
Prior to seemingly throwing his head coach under the bus, Tagovailoa expressed some degree of shock about how the team has done out of the gate. The Dolphins have lost two in a row by five combined points; at 1-5, their postseason chances are quickly fading. Miami’s only victory this season was at home against the moribund New York Jets in Week 4.
By publicizing the issues the Dolphins were having behind closed doors, Tagovailoa only ramped up the pressure on both him and McDaniel. Patience was already running thin, and now it's an open question as to whether the team's embattled quarterback and its embattled coach are on the same page moving forward.
"Regardless of intent and what was on Tua’s mind, after a loss, as the franchise quarterback, that’s not the forum to displace that," McDaniel said of Tagovailoa’s comments. "I think he knows that now. I do honestly believe there’s no ill intention. But you’re talking about kind of a misrepresentation of player-orchestrated film sessions."
Dolphins are nearing an inflection point, and either Tua or Mike McDaniel will have to go
As of Monday night, NFL.com tabs the Dolphins as having a 3% chance to reach the playoffs. The Cleveland Browns (1-5, 2%), Tennessee Titans (1-5, 1%) and Jets (0-6, <1%) are the only teams in the league with worse outlooks. The final nail isn’t in the coffin for the Dolphins yet, but the suddenly scorching Atlanta Falcons are up next.
The situation Miami finds itself in is bleak. Less than a year and a half ago, Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension to keep him around in South Beach. Since McDaniel took the helm, Tagovailoa ranks first in completion percentage (69.1%), sixth in the league in passing yards (12,252) and fourth in both average yards per completion (8.0) and passing yards per game (260.7).
That statistical success hasn’t yielded what matters most, a playoff win. To be more specific, the Dolphins’ first since 2000. The way things are going, that will probably come with a new quarterback, head coach or both. Miami is barreling toward a hard reset, and they'll need to decide whether Tua or McDaniel will be around to lead it.