Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa on benching: ‘Not proud of where I am’
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was reflective when questioned about his performance immediately after Sunday’s 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Tagovailoa threw three interceptions at Cleveland and mustered only 100 passing yards with 12 completions and a career-worst passer rating of 24.1.
“Not happy,” Tagovailoa said Sunday. “Not proud of where I am with my play. With how I’ve gone about things this year. I have to be better.”
The Dolphins totaled 219 net yards and went 1 of 13 on third down.
Tagovailoa also fumbled three times — losing none — and Miami had six total fumbles and recovered five.
“We (had) probably 20 plays that are self-inflicted wounds, and you can’t even get onto beating the opponent if you beat yourself,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said.
The Browns scored 21 points off of four turnovers and improved to 2-5 while Miami slid to 1-6 and pumped up the volume on whether the Dolphins could fire McDaniel and consider other changes. Tagovailoa’s third pick of the game at the 10-minute mark in the fourth quarter prompted Miami to insert rookie Quinn Ewers at quarterback. It followed a near pick-6 on the previous possession only 59 seconds earlier when Tagovailoa was intercepted on a pass out of his own end zone.
Browns cornerback Tyson Campbell scored a defensive touchdown for Cleveland in the third quarter, snagging a Tagovailoa pass and taking it to the end zone for a 34-yard score.
“Players frustrations prevented us from executing today,” McDaniel said. “I’m looking for guys to lean into the team and not feel like, ‘oh I did alright, it’s not my fault.’ No. That’s not how it works. We all have to stay together and we all have to be focused.”
Ewers finished the game 5-of-8 passing for 53 yards and was sacked twice.
Miami plays at Atlanta next week and has a home Thursday primetime matchup with the Baltimore Ravens (1-5) four days later on Oct. 30.
–Field Level Media
