Tua Tagovailoa acknowledges Dolphins’ offensive struggles ‘start with me’
Mike McDaniel consistently reminds his players that “heavy is the head that wears the crown” when the head coach is addressing the adversity the Miami Dolphins face, and the expectations placed on the leaders and highly paid talent.
One of those leaders blamed himself for Miami’s offensive struggles during this 0-3 start, then took a jab at those criticizing his early play this season, particularly analysts who have insinuated he’s not playing like a franchise quarterback.
“I’m not playing up to the standard that I’ve played in years past, and knowing the standard that I can play to,” said Tua Tagovailoa, who has led the NFL in pass rating (2022), passing yards (2023) and completion percentage (2024) at times in his career. “It starts with me. Offensively I have to get our [offense] going, and the defense has to feed off that.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve been playing my best football yet.”
That yet is an important qualifier because Tagovailoa wants to point out the 2025 season’s still salvageable heading into Monday night’s nationally televised game against the New York Jets, who are also off to a 0-3 start.
When asked his response to those who bring up his five-year, $235 million contract when discussing his performance — with former NFL MVP Cam Newton’s name being brought up specifically based on recent comments he’s made about Tagovailoa on ESPN and his Youtube show “4th&1,” — Tagovailoa became defensive.
“Well, anybody can play quarterback in this league then? I want to see anybody on the streets come and play quarterback. Cam [Newton] is doing his thing for sure, but I think it’s easier to be able to hold a clicker and talk about [QB play] that way, or talk about what someone else is doing wrong when you’re not going out and having to do the same as them.
“I think it’s easy to do [analysis]. I think anybody can do that,” Tagovailoa continued. “I don’t think anybody can play quarterback.”
But Newton isn’t just “anybody.” He’s an 11-year veteran who has started 144 regular season games, and had a 3-4 postseason record, which includes a Super Bowl appearance for the Carolina Panthers.
Sure his career faded at the end when he lost his athleticism, and for his career he’s completed less than 60 percent of his passes. But he’s still one of the best athletic quarterbacks of this era.
He’s also a long standing fan of Tagovailoa, and on Friday he insinuated he wants to see the Dolphins’ starting quarterback play with a more aggressive approach.
“Let it rip,” Newton said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “When you have Jayden Waddle, a Tyreek Hill and Mike McDaniel as your coach, you have all the assets and amenities. You have once shown that you’re capable. I don’t know what this is in Miami now.”
This season Tagovailoa has produced a 87.5 passer rating, which is far from his 97.5 career rating. He’s typically careful with the football, but has thrown four interceptions and fumbled twice in Miami’s first three games.
In order for the Dolphins to turn the season around Tagovailoa, who’s entering his sixth season as Miami’s starting quarterback, admitted he needs to play better in every aspect of his game.
When addressing the costly turnovers, like the fourth-quarter interception that put the Bills in position to seal the 31-21 win, Tagovailoa points out those decisions are made in split seconds.
In that instance, offensive guard Daniel Brunskill missed on a block of Bills defensive lineman Deone Walker that sped up Tagovailoa’s throw to Jaylen Waddle, which linebacker Terrel Bernard stepped in front of, pulling down a turnover in the game’s final three minutes while Miami trailed 28-21.
Tagovailoa did acknowledge that he’s struggling to adjust his style of play to what defenses are presenting, and has been playing a tad bit more cautiously with the goal of keeping himself available for his team, doing so by avoiding injuries like the ones that led to him missing six and a half games last season.
“Do I, or do I not,” Tagovailoa said explaining his thought process. “I’ve leaned more towards being able to protect myself…. I would say it’s really just get down every time,” Tagovailoa stated, referring to his live-to-fight-another-down mentality.
Tagovailoa admitted to being less mobile than he was at the University of Alabama, and blamed that on the ankle surgery he had in his college years. However, he stressed “that’s normal” considering the physical nature of the sport.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve had to speed up my process that much quicker,” Tagovalioa added. “But as we’re going through progressions and seeing where guys are going to be, that can speed up [my operation with reading] the later person in the progression.”
Tagovailoa continues to complete a high percentage of his passes (69.7%), and the Dolphins lead the NFL in third-down conversions (54.3%). But he’s flirting with his second-worst yards per attempt average (6.5), which is slightly ahead of the 6.3 yards per attempt he averaged as a rookie starter when he replaced Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2020.
And he has his lowest yards per completion (9.3) average of his career heading into the Jets game. He has averaged 11.1 in the 67 regular-season games he has played.
The Dolphins have stressed that the team needs to stay more committed to the run game, remaining balanced on offense, and that the offensive line’s performance has to improve. But getting cleaner play from Tagovailoa will also make a huge difference.
“It’s not an easy task to be in his shoes, but I’m very happy with where his mind is at and where his focus is at because if he was a weaker-minded individual…” McDaniel said, not finishing his thought process. “It’s tough for any quarterback during any losing streak.. He’s focused on being 1-0 against the New York Jets and that’s why I know he’s capable.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2025 at 6:40 PM.
