Tua Tagovailoa lays bare a fractured Dolphins locker room
Speaking after defeat to the Chargers on Sunday, Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa was critical of the culture in the Miami locker room.
The Miami Dolphins are spiraling. The AFC East squad suffered its fifth loss of the 2025 NFL season in heartbreaking fashion, falling to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6.
Head coach Mike McDaniel’s team squandered a late lead, giving up a game-winning field goal in the final seconds - and the situation in South Florida is starting to look unsustainable.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn’t hold back in his postgame press conference, lifting the lid on apparent shortcomings in the locker room.
“It starts with the little things”
“I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate […] what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tagovailoa told reporters. “Right? 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?
“So it’s a lot of things of that nature that we’ve got to get cleaned up. And it starts with the little things.”
Tagovailoa’s comments came after a rough outing against the Chargers, in which he threw three interceptions - one on the very first pass of the game, and another on the final offensive play, sealing the win for the visitors at Hard Rock Stadium.
Tua Tagovailoa tells reporters that Dolphins players have been late and/or skipping players-only meetings in recent weeks.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 12, 2025
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
Tua “sending a message”
Speaking to the media in the wake of his quarterback’s candid remarks, Miami head coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa was issuing a “clear” statement of intent to his teammates. McDaniel said he hopes the players who were the intended recipients of that message take it to heart.
“Clearly, he’s sending a message, but from my standpoint, everything that I’ve asked of the guys, they have delivered on,” McDaniel said. “So I’m sure whomever he’s talking to, they’ll deliver.”
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