Three days after publicly calling out his teammates after the Miami Dolphins’ latest loss, Tua Tagovailoa is backtracking.
Tagovailoa issued an apology for his comments on Wednesday, and admitted he created unnecessary drama by suggesting some of his teammates do not show up to player-only meetings.
“I made a mistake, and I’m owning up to that right now,” Tagovailoa said. “I talked to guys on the team about it, talked to the leaders about it. They know my heart. They know that 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.
“I just added onto (the noise) for our guys. 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.”
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa apologizes for his comments after Sunday’s game:
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) October 15, 2025
“I made a mistake … We talk a lot about ‘we gotta get this going,’ come in excited for work and forget about the noise — and I feel like I just added on to that for our guys.” pic.twitter.com/lmQsZY0vFU
Tagovailoa essentially questioned the commitment of some of his teammates following the Dolphins’ 29-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. While Tagovailoa saw it as an attempt at holding them accountable, it quickly became a source of controversy, and coach Mike McDaniel publicly repudiated Tagovailoa for the comments.
The Dolphins face the Cleveland Browns in Week 7 and will try to put this episode behind them. It is a winnable game for them, but if they can’t pull it off, things might get really ugly in Miami.
