Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel considered quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s criticism Sunday of teammates for tardiness and attendance to meetings “misguided.”
Shortly after Miami dropped a 29-27 decision to the Chargers at home, Tagovailoa called for accountability from teammates he said were late to players-only meetings. The Dolphins are 1-5 after missing the playoffs last season.
“I’ve got a lot of things to worry about and one of them is not those comments and where our team is lying after that,” McDaniel said. “We’ve just had meetings about the (Chargers) game itself, the factual successes and failures that led to the ultimate result and that’s where people’s focus needs to be. We are all very motivated to fix our problems and find a way to win.”
McDaniel said Tagovailoa addressed the team and will “live and learn” from using the postgame press conference to deliver a message to teammates.
“I think 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 — I think he knows that,” McDaniel said Monday. “Now, I do honestly believe there was no ill intention, but you’re talking about, I think, a misguided representation of player-orchestrated film sessions. The bottom line is no one’s going to be happy and always are looking for reasons for failure to succeed. So you’re trying to look for reasons that you can attribute to losses and heavy is the crown of being a franchise quarterback.”
Tagovailoa, 27, said Sunday the accumulation of losses can only be reversed if “leadership” makes clear what’s expected of players.
“Well, I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys, and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” he said Sunday. “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 is a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make that mandatory? Do we not have to make that mandatory? So it’s a lot of things of that nature that we got to get cleaned up. It starts with the little things like that.”
The Dolphins visit the Cleveland Browns (1-5) on Sunday.
