Tua Tagovailoa apologizes to Dolphins teammates for comments - ESPN

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa apologized Wednesday for comments he made after Sunday's loss to the Chargers, when he criticized teammates for being late to players-only meetings.

Tagovailoa opened his news conference Wednesday by apologizing for his comments and taking responsibility for their impact on his teammates.

«I've made a mistake and I'm owning up to that right now,» he said. «I've talked to guys on the team about it, talked to the leaders about it, and they know my heart. They know that the intent was right. But no matter the intent… 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 now being 1-5. We talk a lot about, 'All right, we got to get this going, come in excited to go to work, forget about the noise.' And I feel like I just added onto that for our guys.

»I've got to look at myself as the leader protecting the team. I don't feel like I did that to the best of my abilities. I felt like I let the emotions of the game get to me after the game. And that's something that I can learn from as a leader on this team and what happens in-house should be protected and none of that should have gotten out."

Shortly after Miami's 29-27 loss Sunday, Tagovailoa was asked how players would refrain from feeling sorry for themselves after a 1-5 start. He said the team's player leadership needed to clearly define expectations for the rest of the team — and those expectations needed to be met.

«We have guys showing up to players-only meetings late, guys not showing up to players-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