The Miami Dolphins’ tough Week 6 didn’t end with a last-second 29-27 loss to the Chargers. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s postgame comments about teammates missing meetings sparked tension. Linebacker Jaelan Phillips has now weighed in, offering a blunt but honest take.

Phillips focused on the truth of the message, telling reporters he deleted Twitter right after the game to avoid the “crazy messages and s**t.” The former first-round pick, who’s logged 1 sack this season while taking on heavy defensive snaps, wasn’t buying the manufactured outrage.

Phillips said he wasn’t “really concerned with what Tua has to say,” because he knows the QB’s heart and intention were good. He added that if Tua “did say anything, it was out of good intention.” The rub is undeniable: “So anybody who’s mad about Him calling people out for being late really is kind of like if the shoe fits type of situation.”

If you’re late, you can’t really “be mad at something that is their fault in the first place.” That’s the blunt logic Phillips offered after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa publicly called out teammates for missing or showing up late to players-only meetings.

The accountability debate that followed exposed a deeper issue: a lack of focus inside a locker room already struggling with a grim -2 turnover ratio and a 1-5 record.

Tua’s comments came after the Dolphins’ last-second 29–27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Frustrated, he said:”We have guys showing up to players-only meetings late, guys not showing up to players-only meetings. There is a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory? So it’s a lot of things of that nature that we’ve got to get cleaned up, and it starts with the little things like that.”

The backlash was swift, and on Wednesday, Tua admitted his approach was flawed. He clarified that his intent was right, but the delivery caused unnecessary noise: “I made a mistake and I’m owning up to that right now.”

He concluded his initial statement by focusing on the distraction he caused: “I added to noise for our guys. Felt like I hurt the team.”

The trade market’s cold embrace: Who stays, who goes?

Tua’s concern is valid because the Dolphins are sinking fast. They’re giving up an average of 29.0 points per game while only scoring 22.3, a gap that stings. The QB has thrown 7 INTs against only 11 TDs this season, and the team’s total offensive output sits at a paltry 300.2 yds per game compared to their opponents’ 402.3.

The brutal reality of 1-5 is that the ‘Fins are now staring at the trade deadline as a clearance sale.

According to Adam Shefter and other NFL insiders, teams are already eyeing both Phillips and the other premier pass rusher, Bradley Chubb. Chubb, still only 29 and playing nearly 70% of defensive snaps, has been a genuine bright spot with a solid 4 sacks so far this year.

And then there’s Jaylen Wright.

The 2024 4th-round pick has become a healthy scratch, effectively supplanted by rookie Ollie Gordon II. The young RB has totaled just 71 career touches and averaged a middling 3.7 yds per carry in his rookie season, yet he remains an attractive piece simply because he’s cheap and under team control through 2027.

The actual proof of whether the team has moved past the drama won’t be found in a presser. It’ll reveal itself in the brutal, unforgiving reality of the line of scrimmage against the Cleveland Browns.