Tyreek Hill Praises 'Great Leader' Tua Tagovailoa amid Criticism, Dolphins' 1-6 Start

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill defended his quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, amid criticism the signal-caller has received due to recent comments (h/t C. Isaiah Smalls II of the Miami Herald).

"Tua is a great leader," Hill said on former Dolphins teammate and offensive tackle Terron Armstead's YouTube show, "The Set."

"He's passionate about Miami. He loves the community. And he wants to win games in Miami."

On Oct. 12, Tagovalioa questioned the team's leadership and said that players have showed up late or not showed up at all to players-only meetings.

"I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys," Tagovailoa said. "And then what we're expecting out of the guys, right? We're expecting this, are we getting that, are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late, guys not showing up to player-only meetings. There's a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make that mandatory, do we not have to make this mandatory? So it's a lot of things of that nature that we've gotta get cleaned up, and it starts with the little things like that."

Those comments came after the team fell to 1-5 on the year. The Dolphins' season has since sunk to a new low after a 31-6 loss to the previously 1-5 Cleveland Browns.

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Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters the day afterward that Tagovailoa's comments were "a misguided represenation of player-orchestrated film sessions."

"After a loss as the franchise quarterback, that's not the forum to displace that," McDaniel said. "I think he knows that now. I do believe there was no ill intention, but you're talking about a misguided representation of player-orchestrated film sessions."

Tagovailoa did end up apologizing publicly a few days after his initial comments.

"I've made a mistake and I'm owning up to that right now," he said, per ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques. "I've talked to guys on the team about it, talked to the leaders about it, and they know my heart. They know that the intent was right. But no matter the intent ... when things get misconstrued or however the media wants to portray it, that leaves a void of silence and a lot of questions for the guys on our team now being 1-5. We talk a lot about, 'All right, we got to get this going, come in excited to go to work, forget about the noise.' And I feel like I just added onto that for our guys.

"I've got to look at myself as the leader protecting the team. I don't feel like I did that to the best of my abilities. I felt like I let the emotions of the game get to me after the game. And that's something that I can learn from as a leader on this team and what happens in-house should be protected and none of that should have gotten out."

Despite everything, Hill still has signal-caller's back.

"I kind of can feel what he's saying because at the end of the day, that should show people that he wants to win," Hill added.

Hill and Tagovailoa have certainly had great success in the past. Hill joined the team in 2022 and immediately put together two incredible seasons, catching 119 passes for 1,710 yards and seven scores in 2022 before adding 119 more receptions for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Dolphins notably sported the league's No. 2 scoring offense in 2023.

Hill played through an injured wrist for the entire 2024 season and saw his production decline (81/959/6), but he was off to a good start in 2025 through three-plus games (21/265/1).

This season has been brutal for the Dolphins, who are very likely playing out the string of a lost campaign at this point. Miami is 25th on offense in part because of a tough Tagovailoa season. He's thrown a league-high 10 interceptions, including six in the last two games (vs. just one touchdown). The season-ending loss of Hill, who suffered a dislocated knee and multiple torn ligaments in Week 4 against the New York Jets, has certainly hampered the team.

The defense hasn't fared well either, allowing the fourth-most yards per play in football (6.0), per Pro Football Reference.

Miami hopes to regroup quickly when it visits the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.