ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reported from Dolphins practice on NFL Live Wednesday that no one — teammates or coaches — was surprised by Tua Tagovailoa’s comments on the Dan LeBatard Show.
What did surprise Paolantonio, though, was the timing of those comments, two years after the Dolphins ended the Brian Flores era, two weeks before the regular season and three weeks after Miami signed Tagovailoa to a lucrative contract extension.
Jeff Darlington agreed with Paolantonio, saying the timing was peculiar, although the quarterback likely feels empowered by his coach and new contract.
Darlington added that the one person who shouldn’t have been surprised is Flores, now the Vikings’ defensive coordinator.
“When Brian Flores was fired,” Darlington said, “this was a main part of the reason why the Dolphins chose to fire him. Stephen Ross the team owner even pulled Tua aside afterward and said, ‘We did not do right by you with Brian Flores. We are going to get this right.’”
Darlington said earlier in the segment that Tagovailoa, who started at Alabama under Nick Saban, is able to take hard coaching. The quarterback’s experience over his first two NFL seasons was more about Flores not wanting Tagovailoa on his team.
“Brian Flores,” Darlington said, “before Tua arrived and after he was drafted, did not want Tua Tagovailoa as his quarterback. It was not simply hard coaching; it was a coach who did not want Tua on his team.”
Booger McFarland and Mike Tannenbaum commended Flores, who spoke publicly in Minnesota Monday, for adopting a growth mindset and learning from his Dolphins experience with Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards in 2024. The Dolphins and Vikings are not scheduled to play a regular-season game until 2026.