Mike McDaniel Had Snarky Line After Stating Tua Tagovailoa Will Start This Week

Tua Tagovailoa was benched during the Dolphins' loss to the Browns.

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel make a comment about turnovers after naming Tua Tagovailoa the team's starter for this week. / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

After throwing three interceptions for the second straight week, the Dolphins benched Tua Tagovailoa for Quinn Ewers during their 31-6 loss to the Browns.

Going up against a previously 1-5 Browns team on Sunday, Tagovailoa went 12-of-23 for 100 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions for a career-low 24.1 passer rating while the offense only mustered a pair of field goals. Tagovailoa currently is tied with Geno Smith for the lead-league in interceptions, and is on track for career-lows in his passer rating and QBR this season.

Despite a tough start to the season for Tagovailoa and back-to-back games with three interceptions, coach Mike McDaniel confirmed he will be the team's starter for this week's matchup against the Falcons in Atlanta.

"He's gonna take the snaps this week and he's gonna be our starter this week," McDaniel said on Monday. "My expectation is that we don't throw 10 picks."

Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel says Tua will be the starting QB this week. And his expectation is that they will not throw “ten picks.” pic.twitter.com/Vqvztxu3zl

— Clay Ferraro (@ClayWPLG) October 20, 2025

McDaniel noted later in his press conference that he and Tagovailoa have watched the film of the passing game together since the loss. "[We] had direct communication about the ebbs and flows of the game and how we can both improve for each other," he said. "To me, when you go through a performance like that, I don't see it as all on a player or all on a coach. It's a working relationship, and we both have to get better together because that's not good enough."

The Dolphins' problems are far from just on Tagovailoa, and McDaniel's line about the interceptions was certainly not the only blunt comment he made in the wake of the loss in Cleveland. He additionally called the loss an "embarrassing effort," pointing out the team committed 11 penalties and were out of position on both sides of the ball.

"There was the appropriate effort and the want to, the discipline that it takes to know your assignments inside and out and execute your assignments inside and out, that was lacking at many times," McDaniel said. "You give credit to the victor, but the tape left me—I don't really have an opinion on the two teams against each other because we didn't participate in the game in my opinion."

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