The drama has only escalated after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa publicly called out his teammate for not being disciplined enough for the team meetings. Whether true or not, his words have come back to bite him. Soon after his rant, his former Dolphins teammate made a surprising revelation.

Former Dolphins wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton shared that Tagovailoa himself used to be late for the meetings. “This dude…the starting QB…was late to the first team meeting during my 3 seconds on the Dolphins,” Hamilton wrote on X. “And everything was all cool in there.”

Hamilton had a brief stint with the Dolphins back in 2022 as a practice squad member only. By that time, Tagovailoa had already been with the franchise for 2 years. At the time, the tension was reportedly high between the QB and former head coach Brian Flores because of a clash of opinions.

Hamilton’s post was in response to NFL reporter Cameron Wolfe’s post about how Tua called out the team members for being late for player-only meetings. As per sources (informed ESPN), the players were regularly late to meetings and practice. Was this a reality check from Hamilton to Tua? Is it something to be seen before calling out others?

This was also the case in coach McDaniel’s first season in 2022. However, like Hamilton said, reports suggested that it wasn’t really addressed then because the team was winning.

Now, once again, the Dolphins are under controversy and drama after a loss in Week 6 to the Los Angeles Chargers, with a 1-5 record. And things don’t look good for the Dolphins’ quarterback. Tagovailoa threw three interceptions against the Chargers.

In the last two weeks, the Dolphins have struggled to protect fourth-quarter leads, and Sunday was no different. As frustration mounted, boos echoed through Hard Rock Stadium. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who completed 21 of 32 passes for 205 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions, admitted he was stunned by how the game unfolded for Miami.

Tua Tagovailoa’s night started as one to forget, but it nearly turned into a defining comeback story. With the Dolphins trailing the Chargers by 13 early in the fourth quarter, the former Alabama star had managed just 112 yards on 10-of-19 passing with two costly interceptions. But when it mattered most, Tagovailoa found his rhythm, completing 11 of his next 12 passes for 93 yards on back-to-back scoring drives that gave Miami a one-point lead with under a minute to play.

First came a 4-yard touchdown sweep from running back De’Von Achane, followed by a clutch 7-yard strike to tight end Darren Waller with 46 seconds remaining. Yet, Miami’s late surge wasn’t enough. Charger’s quarterback Justin Herbert responded with a calm, clinical drive, highlighted by wide receiver Ladd McConkey’s 42-yard catch and capped by Cameron Dicker’s fifth field goal of the night, sealing a 29-27 win for Los Angeles and leaving Tagovailoa and the Dolphins stunned once again.

“Shocked,” Tagovailoa said as he pointed out the mistakes and even some made by him that led to the defeat.

“I guess you could say just this is something that we’ve talked about collectively as a team, about being able to finish in games like this where we have the opportunity to win the game,” he said. “And it’s not just one side of the ball. It’s every phase. I’ve contributed with the turnovers. We had some missed opportunities in (special) teams. Then we had some missed opportunities on defense as well.”

Tua continued in the press conference, calling out mistakes. He also called out the rest of the team for being late or absent in the players-only meetings.

Mike McDaniel responds to Tua Tagovailoa’s controversial comment

Calling for the “leadership” and expectations from the players, he said, “I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” he said. “We’re expecting this — are we getting that? Are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to players-only meetings late.”

He further added, “Guys not showing up to player-only meetings. There’s 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 gotta get cleaned up. And it starts with the little things like that.” Calling out the players for their complacency.

Many dodged the comment. Team captain and linebacker Jordyn Brooks chose not to comment when asked about the Dolphins’ player meetings. However, head coach McDaniel addressed Tagovailoa’s comment, and he had a different opinion.

“Player-led meetings are extra things outside of what I demand,” coach McDaniel said. “We’ve been very accountable to me. It sounds like there was something on his mind with regard to the specific meetings with a couple individuals that he was trying to get corrected by being direct with communication.” Claiming the issue is not with everyone, but with a select few players.

Now, as the previous sources and Hamilton suggested, the indiscipline seems to be a long-standing issue with the team. In the past, the coach mentioned that he often fined players last season for the issues that Tua pointed out, but it didn’t seem to make much difference.

This brings us back to Hamilton, who might not have been entirely off-base with his tweet. As per sources, former Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey and wide receiver Tyreek Hill were among the biggest offenders. Whether the issues exist or not might still be up for debate.