Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa forced to make humiliating U-turn as he issues public apology for criticism of team

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa may have thrown three interceptions in Sunday's loss, but it was his post-game fumble that had him publicly apologizing Wednesday.

Days after chiding teammates for being late to team meetings, Tagovailoa admitted he shouldn't have called them out publicly.

'As a leader of this team, the Miami Dolphins, the comments that have been said, I would say I've made a mistake, and I'm owning up to that right now,' Tagovailoa said.

'I've talked to the guys on the team about it, I've talked to the leaders about it,' he continued. 'They know my heart, they know that the intent was right but, no matter the intent — the intent can be right, but 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.'

The issue arose after Miami fell 29-27 to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Asked for an explanation, Tagovailoa immediately recalled some tardiness to recent players-only meetings.

'I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys and what we're expecting out of the guys,' Tagovailoa told reporters after the Dolphins fell to 1-5. 'We're expecting this, are we getting that? Are we not getting that?'

The team captain then decided to get more specific.

'We have guys showing up to players-only meetings late, guys not showing up to player-only meetings,' he said. 'There's a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory?

'It's a lot of things of that nature that we got to get cleaned up. It starts with the little things like that.'

Asked to clarify if teammates are missing player-only meetings entirely or just arriving late, Tagovailoa said it was the latter: 'Late.'

Since then, Tagovailoa has been chided by fans, pundits and even Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.

'I think regardless of intent and what was on Tua's mind, after a loss as the franchise quarterback, that's not the forum to [share] that,' McDaniel said Monday. 'I think he knows that now.

'I do honestly believe there was no ill intention, but you're talking about kind of a misguided representation of player-orchestrated film sessions.

'You're trying to look for reasons you can attribute to losses, and heavy is the crown of being a franchise quarterback.'

DaeSean Hamilton, who was briefly a member of the Dolphins in 2022, also accused of Tagovailoa of hypocrisy.

'This dude…the starting QB…was late to the first team meeting during my 3 seconds on the Dolphins,' Hamilton wrote on X, adding, 'and everything was all cool in there.'