Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa details urgency at 0-3, claps back at Cam Newton, makes stunning admission

David Furones, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Sep 25, 2025

Published in Football

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins quarterback was blunt Thursday when discussing the level of urgency for his team to get its first win before the season’s opening month is over.

It’s clear the Dolphins, at 0-3, can’t have that snowball into 0-4. If they do lose to the also-winless New York Jets on Monday night, Miami would additionally be 0-3 in the AFC East with home losses to the Jets and New England Patriots.

“We can’t start 0-3, (much) less we don’t want to start 0-4,” Tagovailoa said Thursday after practice.

“We’re tired of talking about it. We got to do something about it, and we got to show what we’ve been talking about throughout training camp, throughout OTAs. Because all of that is not translating to stacking wins.”

Among the myriad things the Dolphins can do better to notch their first victory of 2025, Tagovailoa looks at his own play first.

Miami’s signal caller has thrown for 575 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions, plus lost a fumble, in three games. In late-game scenarios with a chance to either tie or take the lead in the past two losses to the Patriots and Buffalo Bills, he has either thrown an interception or turned the ball over on downs.

“I haven’t played anywhere near the standard that I’ve played in years past and knowing the standard that I can play to,” Tagovailoa said. “It starts with me, with the offense getting our guys going and the defense feeding off of that. I wouldn’t say I’ve been playing my best football yet.”

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel noted he has found missed opportunities to throw down the field.

“The game of a franchise quarterback is never just still,” McDaniel said. “I think that all things throwing the football he’s capable of and there’s opportunities that he needs to take advantage of. There’s also a ton of opportunities to turn the ball over that he hasn’t taken. He’s really answered the bell for 99 percent of the time.”

Tagovailoa added he was content with many of the checkdowns seen through much of last week’s loss in Buffalo, as it was what the defense presented.

“Every game, we have opportunities to take advantage of. It’s just about seeing it right,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s just about going about that process in the right way. Sometimes, you can’t always take those opportunities or those, you know, shots or whatever it is off of the play based on what the defense is doing.”

Added McDaniel: “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 — it’s tough for any quarterback during any losing streak or any whatever. He’s focused on being 1-0 against the New York Jets.”

Tagovailoa responded Thursday to those who point to his salary in criticizing his play, including former MVP Cam Newton on ESPN’s “First Take” after Miami’s last defeat.

“Anybody can play quarterback in this league then,” Tagovailoa said. “I mean, I want to see anybody on the streets come play quarterback.

“Cam’s doing his thing, for sure, but I think it’s easier to be able to hold a clicker and talk about it 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.”

“It’s easy to do that. I think anybody can do that. I don’t think anybody can play quarterback.”

In something that can be seen from watching college highlights of Tagovailoa, he made an intriguing admission Thursday that he indeed doesn’t feel he runs the same now at 27, a byproduct of his ankle injuries at Alabama.

“I think one of the biggest changes and differences that I felt would have been some of the surgeries that I’ve had that I can kind of feel some of the residuals within my ankles,” Tagovailoa said. “I was running a little different when I was at Alabama, and it’s just not the same. And that, I think that’s normal given the surgeries and everything that comes with the sport.”

Tagovailoa is 6-0 in his career against the Jets, but this is a new-look team led by coach Aaron Glenn.

“I don’t think any of it translates,” Tagovailoa said. “None of the wins from last year can translate to this year and vice-versa. So we got to go out. This is a new-scheme team, but we’ve seen the scheme before. But for the most part, same players, some changes in the back end, and we’ll see. We’ll get a gauge on what they want to do on Monday night and we’ll go from there.”