The last time Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke to reporters, he had something to say about certain unnamed teammates. And he said it.
Which resulted in coach Mike McDaniel having to say some things about what Tua had said.
It wasn’t just McDaniel. Every player who met with reporters on Monday was asked multiple questions — right out of the gates — regarding Tua’s criticism of unnamed players not showing up on time (or, as he initially said, not at all) for “player-only meetings.”
Offensive lineman Patrick Paul said, in response to a compound question on the subject (“Was that the right forum for him to say that and has he apologized in front of the team or given an explanation in front of the team? Is that necessary?”): “As far as things with what he says and stuff that’s going on in the locker room, I kind of just try to keep those things out of the media’s part of it. I think that’s something that we should handle internally, and I don’t think that we should be giving out all the details to that so I’m just going to keep that internal.”
As to whether he believes the situation has “been handled where you can move on without any kind of disconnect or issue among the players,” Paul said: “I’m not sure honestly. I’m not sure, truthfully.”
Regarding the prevalence of player-only meetings, ostensibly to watch film, Paul said, “To my knowledge I do think it’s helping with the camaraderie, but I’m not truthfully sure about how frequent it is.”
Offensive lineman Aaron Brewer, also faced from the outset with three questions in one (“Was [Tua] correct to mention that players have skipped the player-led film sessions? Has he apologized or explained himself to the team for that? Is it necessary for him to go in front of the team to explain himself or apologize?”) said this: “I feel like things that happen within the team should stay between the team, I’d say that part. We just got back to it today, so we haven’t been around each other that much. It’s been more position meetings, so I haven’t talked to my guys that much today. That’s all I can say on my part with that.”
Asked whether he’s referring to Tua’s comments or the reaction to them, Brewer said, “Overall. Anything that happens within the building or anything we talk about should stay between each other. It’s not for the outside world.”
Defensive tackle Zach Sieler, on the question of whether Tua should have said what he said and whether he needs to address the team about it: “We have been speaking to the guys. I think we’ve been handling things internally throughout the seasons over the last couple of years and growing as a locker room closer together and growing our culture, and I think we are stronger now than we ever have been. I think we are still working through some things, but to answer your question, I’m not going to sit here and pick apart someone’s opinion or what they’re doing. I think we all have our right to our opinion; we’ve got to work together as a team to keep building and ultimately beat Cleveland.”
Cornerback Rasul Douglas, who first joined the Dolphins just before the start of the season, seemed to be surprised by the news that Tua’s comments focused on players being late to player-led film study: “Is all he said what you just said? That was all he said?” (Which may be a comment on the external reaction or the internal reaction, or both.)
After getting clarification, Douglas wisely didn’t touch the topic. “I’m a defensive guy, though, so I don’t watch film with Tua,” Douglas said. “I don’t know. You’ve got to talk to the offensive players. I don’t know.”
Douglas also was asked about the habit of players studying film on their own or with coaches present.
“I mean you could do them either way,” Douglas said. “I’ve done them either way. I’ve done them with just players, I’ve done them also with coaches. 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 of if what we were saying was right and they did that this week.”
That last part is telling. If players watch film together, their shared interpretation and seat-of-the-pants coaching points may not mesh with what the coaches think they should be taking away from the film they’re studying. So maybe the deeper issue is whether the players should be doing their own player-led film study at all.
Regardless, it will surely be a topic for Tua’s press conference on Wednesday. And McDaniel’s. And any other player who speaks this week.
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