Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa comments aren't going over well.
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Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa comments aren't going over well.
Did you hear that Miami Dolphins‘ quarterback Tua Tagovailoa called out some unnamed teammate(s) following a devastating loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday? Yep, it’s true.
“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. “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. There’s a lot that goes into that.
“Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory? 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.”
Some current and former NFL players didn’t care for how Tua handled his business here. Former Dolphins practice squad wide receiver – and teammate of Tua’s – DaeSean Hamilton said it’s the pot and the kettle.
“This dude…the starting QB…was late to the first team meeting during my 3 seconds on the Dolphins [laugh emojis] and everything was all cool in there,” Hamilton posted on X.
NFL Insider says veterans around the NFL aren’t happy with Tua Tagovailoa
James Palmer of The Athletic did some digging with his sources around the NFL this week and was told that what Tua did was beyond the pail.
“I talked to a lot of people around the league last night about this. Specifically wanted to talk to some veteran players that have been around for a long time and there were a few things that jumped out to me,” Palmer said. “One, universally everybody agreed, you don’t talk about what happens inside player-only meetings. You just don’t do it. And these guys have been around that I talked to for a long time.”
Palmer said that several veterans he spoke with think Tua’s comments were pointed and really directed towards one individual, even if we don’t know who that is yet.
“The second part I thought was interesting were two players separately told me there has to be somebody that he’s had it up to here with – that they’re not just late for the player-only meetings, but they’re late for everything,” Palmer said.
Of course, the first thought would be Tyreek Hill because it just is. But, that wouldn’t make a ton of sense since he’s out for the season.
Tua Tagovailoa’s comments are a bad look for Mike McDaniel
Regardless of where Tua’s comments were directed, the whole situation looks bad for general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel. It starts with Grier because he assembled this entire roster.
But, for McDaniel is really looks like he has no control over this team.
“Then Tua Tagovailoa stood at the podium saying Dolphins players were late for players-only meeting, calling them out in a public press conference,” CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr writes. “That’s a very bad look for the quarterback of the Dolphins and his head coach, who is fighting for his job every week.
“Miami has winnable games against Cleveland and Atlanta coming up, but does it matter? McDaniel seems to be a loss away from a change in leadership.”