Oct 12, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) reacts after the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Things might be worse for the Miami Dolphins than we all thought.

The Dolphins dropped a 29-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, moving to 1-5 overall on the season and falling further behind the Bills and Patriots in the AFC East race. But as rough as the start to the season has been on the field for the Dolphins, things might be even worse in the locker room, which was fully exposed when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa put his teammates on blast while speaking to the media during the post-game press conference.

"I think it starts with the leadership, and helping articulate that for the guys, and what we're expecting out of the guys. Right? We're expecting this, are we getting that, are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to players-only meetings late, guys not showing up to players-only meetings, like, 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, and it starts with the little things like that," Tagovailoa said after the game.

If this is true, and there is no reason to believe Tagovailoa would tell the press otherwise, then it spells bad news for the franchise. After finishing 8-9 and missing the playoffs for the first time in Mike McDaniel's three-year tenure in Miami, it seems that he may have next-to-no control over his locker room – and it's a lack of control even the leaders in the locker room are struggling to fix.

Dolphins fans will have to grimace and handle the admittedly bad news because the season is far from finished. But those Dolphins' fans hoping that this season would see McDaniel return to his winning ways and lead Miami back to the playoffs may not want to hold their breath.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa calls out teammates in indication all is not well in Miami

Reporting by Joe Smith, Touchdown Wire / Touchdown Wire

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