What Tua Has to Say About Rumors He Could Be Benched

There is always a lot of noise around Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but that noise has managed to go beyond the usual echo chambers that Dolphins fans live in this season.

With Miami’s awful 2-7 start and front office changes, NFL insiders from every site have been releasing reports about the Dolphins’ inner workings, and one topic that has come up a lot is Tua’s possible benching.

Tua told reporters Wednesday that he hasn’t heard any of those reports because he doesn’t have social media. That’s what he’s supposed to say, even if it’s hard to take at face value.

Still, Tua understands that he needs to perform a lot better if the Dolphins are going to start stacking some wins.

“I wouldn’t say I’m playing to keep my job,” Tua said. “I think I’m playing to help our team win every time. I think that’s the objective for every quarterback that is playing, for every football player that’s playing as well. The objective is: how can I help my team win games?”

“If you’re looking at it in that sense, I would say my performance needs to be better, and my performance doesn’t reflect me trying to keep my job because that’s not the standard that I’ve been playing all of these other years.”

Tua’s Tough 2025 Season

Tagovailoa is certainly correct about his own play being below the standard he’s set in recent seasons. He’s tied for the league lead in interceptions with 11, and his pass rating — the stat everyone obsessed over for years — currently ranks 25th.

Even if you want to go to advanced stats, Tua’s EPA per dropback is -0.01, which is also 25th. It hasn’t been a banner year for the Dolphins’ quarterback, but the tape is probably a little bit better than the numbers.

The rest of Miami’s offense is also having a rough time. In our weekly film review series, Tua is rarely one of the offense’s most pressing issues. The Cleveland game aside, he’s mostly been OK this season.

Tua isn’t the offense’s biggest issue by any stretch, but he’s also not solving many problems out there, either. That’s the type of quarterback he’s always been, though.

The Debate Around Tua’s Benching

So, that brings us back to benching him in favor of Zach Wilson or Quinn Ewers.

Frankly, only Chris Grier's leaving the team at this point complicates whether sitting Tua makes sense. From a long-term perspective, the Dolphins should invest in finding out whether Ewers can be a long-term backup.

However, head coach Mike McDaniel is still fighting to save his job past this season. He needs to win games to prove to owner Stephen Ross that he can be a part of the team’s next window.

Starting Ewers won’t help McDaniel win more games this season — Tua is still the best quarterback on this team, and it’s not close.

Could McDaniel proving he can win with Ewers also help him keep his job? Absolutely, but that’s also a fairly big risk. Ewers (and Wilson) is McDaniel’s guy. If he can’t win with him, that could backfire even more than just trotting Tua out there for 17 games.

This is what happens when you don’t do a full reset of your football decision-makers and opt for half measures.

Either way, Tua needs to play better. His non-answer from earlier was also technically correct. Winning games is tied to keeping his job, and right now, the Dolphins aren’t winning many games.

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