Why do Dolphins have so many meetings? An answer. And more Tagovailoa fallout
When Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa famously criticized several unnamed teammates for showing up late, or not showing up at all, to players-only meetings, two questions might have come to mind:
1). Why is Tagovailoa airing the team’s dirty laundry publicly?
2). Why does this team have so many player-led meetings?
First, an important distinction: Tagovailoa, who apologized publicly for those comments on Wednesday, wasn’t referring to the traditional type of players-only meetings, the ones when players on losing teams meet to air grievances and try to right the proverbial ship.
What Tagovailoa was talking about were players-led meetings involving position groups on offense and defense.
Beyond the traditional meetings with coaches, Dolphins players also meet among themselves to watch film, get a handle on communication issues, discuss areas to improve and in some cases, talk about the upcoming opponent.
These types of meetings are common in the NFL, according to veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas and several teammates. But not every team has them.
“In Denver, we didn’t necessarily have them,” Dolphins linebacker Bradley Chubb said Wednesday. “If we wanted to talk about something, it was ‘hey, let’s get all the guys together.’
“We made an emphasis here that each and every Thursday we’ll get together and talk about what we just saw. Everybody is talking about what they see from the practice tape and how we can be better and learn from it and grow. I’m not saying the meetings haven’t worked, but we can be better.”
These meetings often include “player film sessions” and are held, as coach Mike McDaniel said, “after meeting times and practice times either Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.”
Tagovailoa gathers his receivers, and sometimes others, for these weekly players-only meetings.
What’s the benefit?
“It’s better when we’re speaking because we’re the ones out there with live bullets,” said receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who noted that he also had these types of meetings when he played for the Tennessee Titans.
“Seeing it differently than the [coaches’] film point of view [helps]. It’s [designed] to be on the same page and build that chemistry. We’ve got different details depending on the play; we make sure we’re locked in on where we are supposed to be, where Tua wants us to be.”
One change, in the Dolphins’ case, is that coaches have begun attending some of those player meetings, at the request of the players.
It hasn’t happened on offense. But it has happened on the defensive line, linebacker and in the defensive backfield, three players said.
Cornerback Storm Duck said the defensive backs concluded the meetings would be more productive with coaches there to offer feedback.
“I’ve done them either way: I’ve done them with just players, I’ve done them also with coaches,” Douglas said. “But I think we had been doing them by ourselves and maybe what we say to ourselves is not what the coaches probably want for us to do in that situation.
“So I know we brought it up and said we wanted the coaches just to come in and give their feedback if what we were saying was right. They did that this week.”
The concern, in the Dolphins’ case, is why some unidentified players aren’t taking the meetings seriously enough to show up on time or at all.
“Every team I was on had these player-only meetings weekly, and it was not hard and fast that you have to be there at this time,” ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back Domonique Foxworth said. “It was understood that you get there because you cared, and you had ownership of other people.
“I don’t care about Tua saying it to the media. The concerning part is he felt the need, or they’re feeling like some people aren’t completely bought in. You can make a bunch of noise about whether he should have said this or not. But it comes down to one thing: He’s not good enough to say that right now.
“If he was balling, you can talk the way you talk to anyone. If you are part of the problem, it looks like you are pointing the finger.”
Foxworth, mentioning former Baltimore star linebacker Ray Lewis, said his “Ravens teams were always led by the players, and it’s not like I don’t want to be late because coaches are going to be mad. I don’t want to be late because I don’t want to let you guys down.”
ESPN’s Jason McCourty, who spent his final season with the Dolphins in 2021 and called three of the Dolphins’ first six games on CBS, said “Tua’s comments were an indictment on player leadership, not team leadership. The meetings he’s talking about aren’t called by Mike McDaniel, Anthony Weaver or any of the coaches.
“This is me saying, ‘Hey, tomorrow at 2 p.m Tuesday, on an off day [let’s] meet and [a player] saying, ‘the hell with that meeting, I’m not going.’ That shows a lack of respect.
“I was teammates with him. And to me, Tua is trying to figure out leadership from a franchise standpoint, for a guy that’s being paid that has a ton of pressure on him on a team that’s not winning. Somewhere along the line, he has been told you have to call your teammates out. You have to hold them accountable publicly, and that’s not the way to do it. You don’t do it after the game. He’s just rambling at that point.”
Zach Sieler said he can only speak for his side of the ball. And on defense, there haven’t been issues with players not attending those player-led meetings.
“There’s been stuff in the past we have absolutely fixed,” Sieler said, with McDaniel noting recently that unlike last season, players haven’t been late to coach-led meetings this year.
“We have a lot of new guys on my side of the ball... and I think we have a lot of guys that want to buy in,” Sieler said. “They’re buying into the culture.“
Sieler then paused to talk about leadership.
“I’m reading a book right now by Jacko Willink, “Extreme Ownership.” The biggest thing is no matter where you stand in the team, every single individual has to take ownership of their part.”
Players appear to have moved past Tagovailoa’s comments.
Cornerback Jack Jones said Tagovailoa didn’t apologize to the team as a whole and everyone is ready to move on.
“Tua said he didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Jones said. “If he didn’t mean it in a bad way, no need to go back and forth about it. You see whatever we didn’t like it. Me personally, I have [no issue with it]. As a team, I can see how it affected us. You see we didn’t like it. If those things continue to show up, where he’s saying things like that, then we should address it as a team.
“Right now, I don’t think that’s important. The most important is winning games. Tua said what he said, didn’t mean anything by it. Let’s focus on winning games and becoming a winning team.”
Injury report
Fullback Alec Ingold (neck/rest) and safety Elijah Campbell (quadriceps) did not practice on Wednesday, as the team began preparations for Sunday’s game at Cleveland (1 p.m., CBS 4).
Center Aaron Brewer (pectoral), linebacker Jordyn Brooks (neck), safety Dante Trader Jr. (shoulder) and tight end Darren Waller (hip/rest) were limited.
Everyone else practiced fully.
Here’s what Mike McDaniel said Wednesday.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 5:17 PM.
