At 0-3, the Miami Dolphins are a ship on stormy waters. When the ship starts taking on water, you typically see some frantic efforts in the name of self-preservation. That, in the NFL world, usually means leaks to the media. And after an optimistic summer in South Florida, where everyone said the right things in Miami, we quickly saw an abnormally quiet first few weeks behind the scenes.

That has changed in the past week. After a 31-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, we’ve started to hear more reports about the state of affairs in Miami, ranging from the psychology of team owner Stephen Ross to the job security of head coach Mike McDaniel and more.

The urgency behind the scenes appears to have picked up. It’s always notable when similar themes start showing up in reports amid the strain. We appear to have our first instance of that with these Dolphins. Two prominent NFL insiders have, independently and several days apart, echoed similar thoughts in the past week about who they are hearing is (and presumably isn’t) to blame for the offensive struggles in South Florida.

Tom Pelissero and James Palmer appear to be talking to the same people with the Dolphins

“The thing I was told is holding Tyreek Hill back is Tua (Tagovailoa). It’s not that Tua can’t play. It’s that Mike McDaniel has to run an offense to protect Tua. Think about it, Steve. You’re running an offense with a quarterback that you cannot allow to get hit. It’s a timing offense…but now with it being a timing offense, you can’t allow yourself to be in a position where you run these longer developing plays. These longer-developing concepts also need to be on time. Can you allow Tua to sit back there that long with the injury concerns that the Dolphins have for Tua? You can’t.”

— NFL insider James Palmer on Steve Smith’s YouTube channel on Tuesday

Okay. Palmer, who is an NFL insider with Bleacher Report and the co-host of “Scoop City” with The Athletic, has long-standing ties to NFL media as an insider and reporter as well. He’s obviously well-connected. Therefore, his insight into the context of why Tyreek Hill hasn’t been Tyreek Hill as of late should be considered credible. Shoot, he said so himself.

The comments about Tua Tagovailoa and his abilities are what they are, until you remember what NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero had to say about Miami’s situation this past Friday on The Rich Eisen Show.

“There is not enough talk about with the hoops that Mike McDaniel has to jump through on a week-in and week-out basis to design a game plan for a quarterback who can’t get hit. You can’t have him holding the ball, you can’t (run) designed runs, you can’t really run quarterback sneaks…Tom Brady ran a pass route in the Super Bowl. It didn’t end well, but they put that in the game plan. You can’t do that with Tua. You can’t run a naked bootleg, you’re not going to run zone read to keep people honest…all of those things combined make it really hard to produce on a week-in and week-out basis.”

— NFL insider Tom Pelissero on The Rich Eisen Show last Friday

Wow, what an incredible coincidence! Two separate NFL insiders who both independently cite conversations that shift the blame of Miami’s shortcomings and issues offensively directly onto Tagovailoa’s limitations and durability concerns. All within the past week! Imagine that!

Is there some merit to the talking point?

Surely, no team has consistently gotten the ball out quicker on pass attempts than Miami since McDaniel arrived in South Florida. However, some of that was by design to capitalize on a perceived Tagovailoa strength. And Tagovailoa does indeed average fewer hits on dropbacks per game (3.23 hits on dropbacks per game, to be exact) since 2022, which is the lowest of any passer-rating qualified passer over that period of time.

But some of what’s being suggested would simply be bad football based on the skill set. Some more of it is things the Dolphins have actively done (or still do). Miami has been a play-action heavy team under McDaniel every year prior to 2025, with the team’s play-action rate at an all-time low and under 18.5% through three games.

They’ve called max-protection shot plays. They’ve run zone read-style backfield action to run RPO concepts, although they haven’t called those looks with the intent to run. They’ve done this despite the risk that these actions pose for leaving the quarterback exposed due to the offensive line blocking the run first.

Have those elements of the offense been less frequent since 2023, when Tagovailoa last stayed healthy for a full season? Yes. But the irony out of all of this being called out now is that Tagovailoa is holding the ball longer now than ever before. That’s right.

Without the elements that are being pointed to as proverbially off-limits, and the root of limited offensive opportunities. If the Dolphins have indeed cut pieces out of their offense to protect hits on Tagovailoa, then no one is doing a good job at mitigating hits on the quarterback. Tagovailoa has been sacked on 8.25% of his dropbacks in 2025. That’s on pace for a career high by nearly two full percent. That 3.23 average QB hits on dropbacks per game since the 2022 mark for Tagovailoa? Here’s the average by season:

2022: 3.23 average hits on dropbacks per game
2023: 3.35 average hits on dropbacks per game
2024: 2.82 average hits on dropbacks per game
2025: 4.00 average hits on dropbacks per game

Tagovailoa, according to Next Gen Stats, is holding the ball for an average of 2.74 seconds from snap to release in 2025 — that’s one-third of a second longer than he executed in 2024 and nearly four-tenths of a second longer than in 2023. The Dolphins’ screen rate through three games sits at less than 14.5% of all of Tagovailoa’s dropbacks. That’s down from 20% in 2024.

As is the case with all things in life and football, multiple things can be true at once. These restrictions do play a part in what McDaniel wrestles with weekly to craft a winning game plan. Tagovailoa’s physical upside, or more specifically, the lack thereof, is well documented. But this talking point, wherever it is coming from, doesn’t absolve anyone from blame, even if it completely absolves all of the other fundamental issues in Miami.

Because the general manager, Chris Grier, ultimately green-lit a contract extension for Tagovailoa last summer. And, per Tagovailoa himself, McDaniel was the one who went to owner Stephen Ross’ office and helped push the deal across the finish line.

“Word gets around quick, and I don’t think (McDaniel) knows that I know, but I’ve been told from several birdies that are here in the facility, that are upstairs as well, that he went to bat for me the day that I went out and practiced 11-on-11, seven-on-seven before we went on that little break,” Tagovailoa said after getting his extension. “That he went to bat for me with our owner, and I won’t go into details of things that I heard were said, but just know like, he is what he says.”

I should make this abundantly clear: I’m not saying any of this is coming directly from McDaniel. There’s no way of knowing that, and it is important not to assume anything. But this messaging does appear to be coming from someone (or several someones) who would presumably have a vested interest in McDaniel dodging the brunt of what has unfolded in the past 13 months in South Florida. And based on multiple insiders echoing the same sentiment, there appears to be some urgency to disseminate this message to help shape public (and private) opinions on the matter.

Miami is now 8-12 in its last 20 games, going back to the start of the 2024 regular season. It’s been miserable. And this is what happens when you start losing — a mad scramble for leverage, security, and support tends to follow. We’re well adjusted to it in South Florida from the battles between the late Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland and, later, Jeff Ireland and Joe Philbin (with former Dolphins executive Dawn Aponte serving as Philbin’s tag-team partner).

But in this case, all of the heavyweights of Miami’s football operation should be considered as sewn together at the hip, going back to that record-setting contract for the franchise. Everyone knew what Tagovailoa was and wasn’t back then. And while they may not have banked on him trying to run over Damar Hamlin in Week 2 of 2024 to facilitate a fresh stint on injured reserve or expect the early-season regression we’ve seen from Tagovailoa thus far in 2025, everyone was fine with dialing in a contract last summer anyway.

To pivot now and gripe about the proverbial restrictor plate Tagovailoa puts on the offensive game plans is extremely convenient, and it assumes the masses and the owner have an insultingly short memory. Even amid the truth that may come with the statement, it shouldn’t be considered a dismissal of blame for anyone involved. In fact, it might actually make it worse.