Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in 2023 and has played well for most of this season. However, on Wednesday, Tagovailoa took some responsibility for the Dolphins’ unexpected 5-7 record, saying that his time on injured reserve due to a concussion played a significant role in how the season has gone.
“I don’t think that (record) shows the character of who we are as a team,” Tagovailoa said. “It doesn’t show the work that we’ve put in this offseason together.
“Nobody else will say it but me, and I feel like this has a lot to do with myself, obviously putting myself in harm’s way in the second game, going down and basically leaving my guys out to dry … I do take heart to that as well and don’t want to do that to my guys again.”
The Dolphins appeared to be getting back to last season’s level of play after a recent three-game winning streak. However, questions about the team’s toughness came up again after a poor performance at the cold Lambeau Field last Thursday, where the temperature was about 27 degrees at kickoff.
Miami missed 20 tackles, according to Next Gen Stats, and allowed 114 rushing yards while gaining just 39 yards on the ground. Tagovailoa was sacked five times during the game.
The Dolphins have lost their last 12 regular-season or postseason games when the temperature was 40 degrees or lower, and they have more cold-weather games ahead in Houston, Cleveland, and New York later this season. Miami had a 4-10 record in games played in December or later in the last two seasons.
“Collectively you’ve got to all have that same mindset,” Tagovailoa said about the Dolphins’ toughness. “That’s why we have team football, that’s why you’re in team sports. I think you’ve got to look at it as, are you mentally tough and are you physically tough? They have to go hand in hand. If one of those things has a kink in it, it could go one way or the other.”
A few weeks ago, former Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott said the team was “soft” when he played there. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks also criticized the team’s toughness after the loss to Green Bay.
“I feel like we let the elements control the way we played,” Brooks said after the 30-17 loss. “As a group, I thought we were soft. Simple as that.”
Head coach Mike McDaniel said that when the team doesn’t meet expectations, criticisms are expected, but he uses game tape to evaluate toughness.
“If I have an example of weak-mindedness or situations where a guy is turning something down or how he’s loafing because of a result, those are things I can coach,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel added that he didn’t see anything in the tape to suggest that players weren’t giving full effort, but he did notice many missed tackles due to bad technique and poor straining, which worsened as the game went on.
He also mentioned that if players were “loafing” or not doing their assignments, their teammates would have insisted he bench them, and that didn’t happen.
“I’m very aware that the narrative exists,” McDaniel said. “And with absolute certainty, I know that the narrative will exist unless it changes. There’s one way to change it. And that’s winning a game against the New York Jets.
“And you know what? People still might not call you tough. Cool. I take it very serious as a head coach to be responsible for things that can help to be accountable and to bring forth information that’s actually helpful, not finger pointing.”
Some Dolphins players disagreed with the idea that the team isn’t tough enough.
“I guess we’ve got to prove it wrong,” said defensive tackle Zach Sieler. “If people think that, we’ve got to go out there and beat it. I don’t think that’s the case. I think we play physically up front. I think we play physically all around. I think we’ve got to make sure we’re showing that on Sunday.”
