What to Make of McDaniel's Apparent Jab at Tua

Man, we're a long way from that famous phone conversation between Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa when the former was on a plane on his way to South Florida after being hired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

That conversation was all about positivity, optimism and excitement, basically the complete opposite of what went down during McDaniel's weekly day-after-the-game media session Monday.

Even the setting was strange. McDaniel had to be asked whether Tagovailoa would take first-team reps this week and remain the starting quarterback for the team's upcoming game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The response was even stranger, specifically what McDaniel added after confirming that Tua indeed would take all the first-team snaps and start against Atlanta.

"My expectation is that we don’t throw 10 picks.”

AN EYE-OPENING REMARK

Wow!

There's no other way to describe this.

If that wasn't a shot at Tua, then what else could it be?

The comment was delivered in an even more deadpan manner than McDaniel typically employs, but not followed with a smirk and caveat that would have indicated it clearly was a joke (like he's done many times in the past).

No, this looked like a frustrated head coach making a point.

Again, this was like the complete opposite of that famous airplane phone call, posted on the Dolphins' social media account, where McDaniel was talking to Tua about having a long working relationship.

That relationship is in its fourth year, but appears on the verge of a divorce, given that the biggest question surrounding McDaniel's job security with the Dolphins seems to be whether he'll be replaced as head coach during or after this season from hell.

McDaniel and Tua have been tied together since that 2022 offseason, and there have been high points for sure, both collectively (those first two seasons when the Dolphins made the playoffs with one of the highest-ranked offenses in the NFL) and individually (both getting a contract extension last summer).

A ROCKY MARRIAGE?

But things have gone sour in 2025, and the frustration is coming out from all sides.

After the last-second loss against the L.A. Chargers in Week 6, Tagovailoa's comments about the lack of leadership and guys showing up late or not at all to "player-led meetings" were seen in many circles as, among other things, being critical of McDaniel's ability to hold players accountable.

McDaniel answered the following day, saying Tagovailoa had made a mistake by airing team issues in a public forum, which was followed by Tua issuing a mea culpa at his weekly media session last Wednesday.

What's made everything worse, though, is the performance on the field.

And Tua, following his three-INT game against the Chargers — a game where he did lead two touchdown drives to put the Dolphins in position to win — with another three-pick game was a nightmare coming to life.

“I think, when you turn the ball over, it is the number one indicator of wins and losses, and it negatively affects the team," McDaniel said. "I think there’s multiple factors in those turnovers. I know at least one or two of them were extremely preventable from Tua, and he knows that just wasn’t good enough. We’ll watch the tape and change our style of play if we have to. Everything is on the table, when you go to a game you fully know you have the capability to win and get handed a very, very humbling loss.

"There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it, guys need to be professionals and step up to the plate, and every person on our team, if you’re saying it’s me, it’s you. I told the team, that’s what I have to subscribe to and we will be diligent in our cleanup of this game and the opponent for next week, because you’re not just going to win games and our team, we say we want to win games, so we have to do the things necessary to win games. Until that happens, we will lose games."

McDaniel really isn't in a position to lose any more games, though, because as long as he remains head coach, there exists the possibility — however small — he could somehow convince owner Stephen Ross to bring him back in 2026.

The idea of using Quinn Ewers at quarterback to evaluate his potential as a future clear No. 2 quarterback or maybe even starter has merit from an organizational standpoint, but it does McDaniel no good if he's not part of Ewers' future.

So it always made sense for McDaniel to stick with Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback because, until proven otherwise, Tua still gives the Dolphins (and McDaniel) the best chance to win.

But McDaniel clearly is frustrated by not only what's going on with his team, but also his quarterback specifically.

And that came out with his jab.

To be honest, it wasn't a good look for the embattled Dolphins head coach, who's always been classy.

But there are difficult times for him and his team, and this was a pretty clear indication of some frustration boiling over.

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