The Miami Dolphins are off to a disappointing 1-5 start to the season, but their play on the field is not the only thing under scrutiny heading into Week 7.
A day after Tua Tagovailoa called out attendance at player-only meetings during his postgame news conference, head coach Mike McDaniel publicly rebuffed his franchise quarterback after having the chance to hear Tagovailoa's remarks.
"After a loss as the franchise quarterback, that's not the forum to displace that," McDaniel said on Monday. "I think he knows that now. I do believe there was no ill intention, but you're talking about a misguided representation of player-orchestrated film sessions."
The Dolphins lost 29-27 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday -- Miami's third loss this season in which it's held a fourth-quarter lead -- but the headlines in South Beach centered on Tagovailoa's comments in which he said "we have guys showing up to player-only meetings late. Guys not showing up to player-only meetings."
McDaniel chalked up that sentiment to a frustrated player after another loss this season.
"You're trying to look for reasons that you can attribute to losses, and heavy is the crown of being a franchise quarterback," McDaniel said. "What I do know is that he's directly communicated with a lot of guys, starting with last night. That's what teammates do. You live and you learn, and ultimately I look at it like everything else. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. Accountability and our team's performance lies squarely on my shoulders."
Miami's 1-5 start is the franchise's worst since 2021 (Tagovailoa's rookie season) and has McDaniel squarely in the hot seat in his fourth season as head coach.
The coach said on Monday that his focus is on the Dolphins' next game against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 19 and not on what was said this past Sunday.
"I've got a lot of things to worry about and one of them is not those comments, and where our team is lying after that," McDaniel said. "We just had meetings about the game itself. The factual successes and failures. … That's where people's focus needs to be and (I'm) confident will be, as we're all very motivated to fix our problems and find a way to win."
