Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa began his press conference on Wednesday by acknowledging his mistake of calling out teammates for being tardy and their attendance in player-only meetings.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and other players took issue with his comments, noting that they should be kept in the locker room as opposed to in front of a microphone.
“As a leader of this team, the Miami Dolphins, the comments that have been said, I would say that I made a mistake and I’m owning up to that right now,” Tagovailoa said on Wednesday. “I’ve talked to the guys about it, I’ve talked to the leaders about it. They know my heart, they know the intent was right, but no matter the intent … when things get misconstrued or however the media wants to portray it, that leaves a void of silence and a lot of questions for the guys on our team.
“… For myself, I have to look at myself as a leader and protecting the team. I don’t feel like I did that to the best of my abilities. I felt like I let the emotions of the game get to me after the game. That’s something I can learn from as a leader on this team. What happens in-house should be protected. None of that should have gotten out. I want to publicly apologize about that. I want to move forward, and now I want to focus on the Cleveland Browns.”
Tagovailoa’s apology comes three days after he pointed the finger at his teammates following Miami’s 29-27 setback to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Dolphins fell to 1-5 on the season.
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 Browns (1-5) on Sunday.