Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa issued a public apology Wednesday for comments he made about his teammates’ punctuality to meetings, remarks that created tension in the locker room and scrutinized head coach Mike McDaniel’s leadership.
After Sunday’s 29-27 loss, Tagovailoa was asked how the team could prevent a ‘woe is me’ attitude as losses piled up, which led him to reveal details about internal team dynamics.
“We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late,” Tagovailoa said. “Guys are not showing up to player-only meetings. There’s a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory or not? It’s a lot of things of that nature that we got to get cleaned up, and it starts with the little things like that.”
The comments were discussed extensively on social media and in the media, leading to Tagovailoa apologizing for his remarks during a news conference Wednesday.
“As a leader of this team, about the comments that had been said, I would say I’ve made a mistake, and I’m owning up to that right now,” Tagovailoa told reporters.
He mentioned speaking to other players, including the leadership council, to express his remorse for revealing issues that should have stayed within the locker room. Tagovailoa added that he did not intend for his words to be expressed as they were or for them to be ‘misconstrued’ by the media, and he hopes it will serve as a learning experience.
“I have to look at myself as the leader protecting the team. I don’t feel like I did that to the best of my abilities,” Tagovailoa said. “I felt like I let the emotions of the game get to me after the game. That is something I can learn from as a leader of this team. What happens in house should be protected, and none of that should have gotten out.”
Tagovailoa’s comments also put more pressure on McDaniel. At the end of last season, McDaniel admitted he tried fining players for being late to team meetings, but the fines were not having an impact on the players showing up earlier, so he had to change his strategy in instilling other disciplinary actions to hold players accountable.
McDaniel said after Sunday’s game that he believed the changes he made in the offseason led to better accountability and have had an effect on the team despite winning only one game this season. However, with a 1-5 record, the calls for McDaniel to be fired have gotten louder.
Tagovailoa, McDaniel, and the rest of the Dolphins will attempt to turn their season around when they face the Cleveland Browns on the road Sunday.
“I want to move forward and now, I want to focus on Cleveland,” Tagovailoa said.
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