Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is coaching for his job right now, so the last thing he needs is to deal with his quarterback airing out grievances about his teammates in public.
However, perhaps that’s part of the larger problem that got McDaniel here in the first place.
Following Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that dropped the team to 1-5, Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa used his post-game presser to send a message to teammates whom he felt weren’t stepping up.
Tua Tagovailoa tells reporters that Dolphins players have been late and/or skipping players-only meetings in recent weeks.
Eye-opening example of problems with 1-5 Miami Dolphins. Tua begins answer: “it starts with the leadership.” (H/T @MiamiDolphins). pic.twitter.com/qVbFLVLxAT
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 12, 2025
“Well, I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys,” Tagovailoa said. “And then what we’re were expecting out of the guys, 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 not showing up to player-only meetings. Like, there’s a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory, do we not have to make this mandatory? So it’s a lot of things of that nature that we’ve gotta get cleaned up, and it starts with the little things like that.”
While Tagovailoa later clarified that certain players had been showing up late to those meetings and not attending them, it also revealed that the players appear to be having several meetings without coaches, which raises even more questions.
Naturally, McDaniel was asked about Tua’s comments and the player-only meetings taking place, putting him in the position of having to walk a fine line between defending his quarterback and defending the players he was calling out.
🎥 Mike McDaniel on his conversations with Stephen Ross following the loss vs. Carolina Panthers: “He was really frustrated, as I was. We talked about the challenge ahead.” (@MiamiDolphins) #PhinsUp pic.twitter.com/LmoT3HTvUC
— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) October 6, 2025
“Player-led meetings are extra things outside of what I demand,” McDaniel told reporters on Sunday. “We’ve been very accountable to me. It sounds like there was something on his mind with regard to the specific meetings with a couple individuals that he was trying to get corrected by being direct with communication. I think that’s the only way to lead. As far as where we’ve been at as a program, I think we’ve opened the air on all of that and it’s very clear how we hold people accountable and what’s non-negotiable with all those things. Clearly, he’s sending a message, but from my standpoint, everything that I’ve asked of the guys, they have delivered on and so I’m sure whomever he’s talking to, they’ll deliver as well as he’s a direct communicator with his teammates.”
On Monday, McDaniel was a bit more blunt, saying that the post-game presser was not the place for Tua to air his grievances.
“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. “He knows that now. I honestly believe there was no ill intention, but you’re talking about a misguided representation of player-orchestrated film sessions.”
Things were already a mess in Miami, and Tua’s comments, well-intended as they might have been, are only going to add to that. As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted, “The situation will now spark a media feeding frenzy. Who was Tua referring to? What do the players think about Tua’s leadership efforts?”
Short of a shocking turnaround, it seems likely that McDaniel is treading water at this point. However, things have been so bad in Miami for so long that Tua’s attempt at leadership could backfire on him as well. Less a sign of leadership, they seem to only add to the dysfunction that already seems to have enveloped the franchise, one that he is the face of.
Tagovailoa has spent a lot of time this season defending himself and his team from the podium, but if the team doesn’t start winning, people might not be interested in hearing what he has to say for much longer.