Tua Tagovailoa has created a whole media mess after snitching on his teammates for not showing up to players-only meetings. Following a tough, emotional, 29-27 loss to the LA Chargers, he got on the podium and professed that it was a big reason why the team hasn’t been playing well. Well, recently, he backtracked on the comments. But one NFL analyst and former player believes it’s too late to apologize.
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Now, let’s be fair, it was a gut-wrenching loss for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Coming on the back of losing to the Carolina Panthers and barely ousting the New York Jets, the team struggled yet again. But a late comeback saw them gain a 27-26 lead with less than a minute remaining.
Nevertheless, it was all for nothing. Miami’s defense immediately gave up a 42-yard gain, setting up a game-winning field goal with just 5 seconds remaining. Tua threw an interception as time expired, capping a frustrating end to a frustrating day. And Tua didn’t hold back after the loss.
“I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys, and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tua told the media via CBS. “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… It’s a lot of things of that nature that we’ve gotta get cleaned up, and it starts with the little things like that.”
They were surprisingly candid comments that pulled the curtain back on a messy situation. We already knew that Tua and the Dolphins were struggling. But now, it sounds like the entire team isn’t bought into him as a leader.
Yesterday, Tua took the time to apologize for his comments. He admitted that he let his emotions get the best of him after the game and that he made a mistake.
“I’ve made a mistake, and I’m owning up to that right now,” Tua stated to the media. “I’ve talked to the guys on the team about it, talked to the leaders of the team about it, and they know my heart and 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.”
It was a decent apology. Although he did kind of deflect what he said, pointing out that it got “misconstrued” in the media. Whatever the case, it was the right thing for Tua to do, even if he already called out his team.
However, former player and analyst Emmanuel Acho then called Tua out, professing that what he said was meaningless.
“Shoutout to Tua for apologizing and taking accountability,” Acho started on Speakeasy, before revealing the cold truth. “Now, it’s absolutely meaningless. Nobody in the locker room is like, ‘Hell yeah, thanks for that apology, Tua.’ No, the damage has already been done. Tua, you already called out your teammates. It’s done.”
It’s a hard notion to disagree with. After all, people, and athletes especially, have a hard time staying motivated when they’re being called out. It is usually a tactic that only works when your co-workers fear or respect you. But, clearly, Tua has lost all of the respect of his teammates.
How do we know this? Well, because Tua already said himself that players aren’t following him in attending players-only meetings.
“Your teammates didn’t follow you before your comments. That’s why they didn’t go to the players-only meetings. Your teammates aren’t going to follow you after the comments. Because now, you’ve apologized for something that you’ve already exposed yourself for,” Acho said.
That’s when the analyst made a great analogy to explain the situation.
“So, the apology, in my mind, though, thank you for it, and I’m not going to condemn him for it. It was a waste of time, because you’re not getting that respect back. Once the respect is gone, it’s gone. It’s like a soda can that has carbonation. Once you open that, you can’t get the fizz back.”
That said, the Dolphins and Tua have the opportunity to get back on track this Sunday against the lowly Cleveland Browns. But we have a feeling the contest will be a lot harder than they may have initially thought. The Browns are also 1-5, yet their defense has been stellar. And with Tua at the helm, he’s probably going to be running for his life all day long, which we know is his biggest weakness.
At the end of the day, something needs to change in Miami, and we’re looking at the head coach and QB. Sure, Tua has been bad, but Mike McDaniel has been equally as bad, if not worse. He’s proven that he is not fit for a head coaching role and that he should just go back to being an offensive coordinator. But we’ll just have to wait and see how much longer the Dolphins’ front office will allow this circus to continue.
