Mike McDaniel didn’t agree with the manner in which Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went about calling out the lack of accountability inside the Miami locker room following their 29-27 loss to the Chargers on Sunday.
The Dolphins head coach, who has found himself on the hot seat this season with his team off to a miserable 1-5 start through the first six games of the year, told reporters on Monday that he didn’t believe the “forum” Tagovailoa used to air his grievances was the right one.
It was a change in tone by McDaniel, who, less than 24 hours earlier, had defended Tagovailoa’s comments after the loss and described the Dolphins franchise QB as a “direct communicator.”
McDaniel explained that his initial reaction had come before he had heard the full comments by Tagovailoa.
“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,” McDaniel told reporters on Monday. “I think he knows that now. I do honestly believe there was no ill intention, but you’re talking about kind of a misguided representation of player-orchestrated film sessions … So you’re trying to look for reasons you can attribute to losses, and heavy is the crown of being a franchise quarterback.
“What I do know is he’s directly communicated with a lot of guys starting with last night, and that’s what teammates do and you live and you learn. Ultimately, I look at it like everything else. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it — accountability and our team’s performance lies squarely on my shoulders. So, we know that as well. But the focus to beat the Cleveland Browns and fix what we need to get fixed in our game to go attack the next opponent … and everything else is not leading us into the direction of [a] solution.”
Tagovailoa’s comments were just the latest in a season that has already started to circle the drain in Miami.
The Dolphins have just one win – a 27-21 victory over the Jets – and have lost two straight after starting the year with three consecutive losses.
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Tagovailoa completed 21 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown, along with three interceptions, in Sunday’s loss to the Chargers.
McDaniel was asked if he felt the latest drama was part of a larger issue, and the Dolphins head coach replied, “No.”
“I think that is at the crux of the issue is it’s inherently assumed that you’re attaching reasons for failure to that,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of things to worry about, and one of them is not those comments … we just had meetings about the game itself — the factual successes and failures that led to the ultimate result — and that’s where people’s focus needs to be. I’m confident … we are all very motivated to fix our problems and find a way to win.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
