Oct 19, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) reacts while walking off the field after the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
By Sam Neumann on

Tua Tagovailoa couldn’t see Jaylen Waddle on Sunday.

That’s his explanation, anyway.

The Miami Dolphins quarterback targeted his top receiver four times in a 31-6 loss to Cleveland. Waddle caught one pass for 15 yards. When asked about it this week, Tagovailoa blamed his height.

“I think with that, some of it has to do with being able to see guys with their guys also upfront and our guys,” Tagovailoa explained. “I’m not the tallest guy in the back there, either. So, being able to see and then sometimes when that happens, you don’t want to just throw it blindly.”

He’s 6-foot-1. He’s been playing with Waddle since their time together in Alabama. They’ve run Mike McDaniel’s offense together for three seasons. But apparently, the offensive line was too tall on Sunday, and Tagovailoa couldn’t locate one of the league’s best route runners.

The Browns’ defense earned credit for holding Miami to six points and three turnovers. Cleveland schemed well and executed better. But Tagovailoa just announced he couldn’t find his college teammate because he’s short. That’s the kind of limitation scouts project when evaluating quarterbacks under 6-foot-3. It’s not something a franchise quarterback making $53 million per year is supposed to say out loud.

This came after Tagovailoa threw three interceptions for the second straight week. After he completed 12 of 23 passes for 100 yards with a 24.1 passer rating. After he got benched in the fourth quarter for Quinn Ewers, a seventh-round rookie making his NFL debut.

A week earlier, Tagovailoa publicly criticized teammates for showing up late to player-only meetings following Miami’s loss to the Chargers. He called out the team’s leadership issues. He questioned whether those meetings should be mandatory. Then he apologized days later for not keeping it in-house.

McDaniel said the postgame press conference “was not the forum to displace that.” Greg Olsen went on Wake Up Barstool and questioned why Tagovailoa didn’t include himself in the criticism. Former players in the media wondered what kind of captain airs internal issues to reporters.

The Dolphins are 1-6. Tagovailoa is tied for the NFL lead with 10 interceptions through seven games. He’s on pace to throw 27 picks when his previous career high was 14. He’s thrown for 100 yards or fewer in consecutive weeks. CBS’s Adam Schein delivered a game update about one Tagovailoa interception against Cleveland while another one was happening in real time.

Miami gave Tagovailoa $212.4 million last summer after he led the NFL in passing yards in 2023. They extended him because he mastered McDaniel’s system with Tyreek Hill and Waddle. Now Hill’s out for the season with a torn ACL, and Tagovailoa says he can’t see Waddle behind the line.

Waddle’s lowest output before Sunday came in Week 14 last season against Houston, when he left with a knee injury. Against Cleveland, he was healthy. The issue, according to his quarterback, was visibility.

McDaniel said Tuesday he and Tagovailoa had an hour-and-a-half meeting Monday. He called it “great” and said there’s “zero uncertainty” about his belief in Tagovailoa. McDaniel also refused to commit to Tagovailoa as the starter after the Browns game, saying, “everything is on the table.”

And if the Dolphins wanted their franchise quarterback to inspire confidence, they’re not getting it from anything he’s saying into a microphone.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann