The Dolphins still haven’t found their identity six weeks into the season, and things are starting to look a little grim for Tua Tagovailoa & Co.
Tagovailoa threw three picks in Sunday’s 29-27 loss to the Chargers as Miami fell to 1-5 on the year after Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker’s game-ending field goal. Dolphins running back De’Von Achane had 128 yards on the ground and Jaylen Waddle had nearly 100 in the air, but weren’t able to get the stop they needed on defense to end the game, and fell painfully short of a win. Now it’s back to the drawing board after another disappointing result.
Tagovailoa offered a pretty harsh assessment of his team during Sunday’s postgame presser, in which the Dolphins quarterback seemed to call out Miami’s “leadership” and made some eye-opening comments on the team’s discipline so far this year.
“I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys and what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tagovailoa said. “We have guys showing up to players-only meetings late, guys not showing up to players-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 got to get cleaned 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
Though he didn’t name any names, Tagovailoa’s rant is a bad look for the Dolphins franchise, with some fans believing coach Mike McDaniel is inching closer and closer to getting sacked this season.
The Dolphins are coming off an 8-9 campaign in 2024 and are staring down what could potentially be another lost season in McDaniel’s fourth year at the helm. Some major changes could certainly be on the horizon for Miami, who will be looking to bounce back against the Browns next week.