The Miami Dolphins have been a complete mess this season, and things only got worse when Tua Tagovailoa threw his teammates under the bus. Amid a 1-5 start and following an emotional 29-27 loss to the LA Chargers, the star QB called out his teammates for not showing up to players-only meetings. However, he has since walked back his comments and apologized.
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This past week, Tua and the Dolphins finally showed some signs of life with a 34-10 blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons. On the road, in a game they had to win, Tua threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns. That’s a strong performance to help him get back on track.
NFL veterans Andrew Whitworth and Ryan Fitzpatrick believe Tua just needed to regain his confidence to return to this form. After all, it’s been a turbulent and emotional start to the season, and sometimes, all a player like Tua needs is to feel that his teammates have his back.
“Sometimes it takes a teammate coming up to you and saying, ‘I believe in you,’” Fitzpatrick began on Fitz & Whit. “The 4 most powerful words in the world,” Whitworth responded.
“Mike McDaniel came in and said those four words. He said, ‘I believe in you.’ And that breathed so much confidence into Tua,” Fitzpatrick added.
Fitzpatrick, who played for the Dolphins at QB for two years, expanded on why Tua needed to hear these words to gain more confidence.
“It’s important to know as a person in a position of leadership, as a person like Tua, where everything falls on his shoulders, it’s important for him to hear that from his teammates,” Fitzpatrick stated.
Given that the quarterback is the most important position in all of sports, they need a vote of confidence from their teammates. It boosts morale throughout the squad and gives everyone a sense of belief. That feeling was lost for a while in Miami, but it seems they’re starting to find it again.
Still, it’s hard to just brush aside what Tua said. And that’s why NBA legend Udonis Haslem, who joined their podcast, took the time to call out the quarterback for forgetting the support system he’s had up to this point and for throwing his own people under the bus.
“That’s what bothered me most about the comments that Tua made. When he made the comments about leadership. Because Mike McDaniel did believe in you,” Udonis said, adding,
“He did rebuild your offense. He did rebuild your confidence. He did pay you. So, regardless of what you were thinking about Mike McDaniel when you were questioning the leadership in front of the media, that’s where it’s kind of looked at when you said what you said.”
It’s a great point that had to be said. Tua has been treated more than fairly ever since McDaniel arrived with the team. In fact, the coach was giddy with excitement when he first accepted the job, and immediately FaceTimed Tua at the time.
When Tua questioned the leadership among the players on the Dolphins, it reflected badly on McDaniel. Perhaps the QB didn’t mean to do this, but what’s said has been said. It’s great that he has since apologized, and then he led the team to a morale-lifting win. That said, a loss this Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens would be crushing and set them back to square one.
All in all, it may seem like the Dolphins are out of the woods with the drama seemingly behind them. But they are very much still in the thick of things.
This week, it’s the Ravens with Lamar Jackson returning, then next week it’ll be the Buffalo Bills. Tua and the Dolphins need to build on this win, because if they don’t, their season will come to an end before we even reach Thanksgiving. Then, important people may start to lose their jobs.
