1 of 5 | Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw three interceptions and three touchdown passes through the first two weeks of 2025. File Photo by Larry Marano/UPI | License Photo
The Miami Dolphins are staring at a potential 0-3 mark through the first dozen days of the season, but quarterback Tua Tagovailoa plans to “stay even keel.”
Tagovailoa made the comments during his weekly news conference in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Dolphins quarterback has a 38-26 record as a starter, but is off to the first 0-2 start of his NFL career.
“It’s one of those deals where you can never get too high in this league [and] you can never be too low,” Tagovailoa said at the Baptist Health Training Complex. “You’ve just got to continue to stick to your process, stay even keel, trust the guys, continue to bring those guys along and you go out there and you continue to play.
“Do your job, do the best that you can and the result will take care of itself, whether it’s a win, whether it’s a loss, and you continue to grow from that, continue to move on from that.”
Tagovailoa, who dealt with a long list of adversity though his first five seasons — including a series of concussions and benchings — was 4-0 in his previous four season-opening starts. The Dolphins began two of those seasons at 3-0. Tagovailoa also went 3-0 through his first three starts of the 2020 campaign.
But he pointed to the 2021 season — when the Dolphins won their first game and then lost seven consecutive times, but finished 9-8 — as evidence of confidence for a potential 2025 turnaround.
“I would say when we were in ’21, it wasn’t just how we started,” Tagovailoa said. “We could have been 1-0, 2-0 maybe even. And then we went on that streak of maybe six losses, seven losses and then we came back and we won eight.”
Tagovailoa, who missed five games due to injuries in 2021, completed 67.8% of his throws for 2,653 yards, 16 scores and 10 interceptions over his 13 appearances that season. The Dolphins also had the No. 15 defense in the NFL in 2021, former coach Brian Flores’ final season.
The Dolphins started 3-0 under McDaniel the last two times Tagovailoa was healthy through the first three games of a season — 2022 and 2023. They made the playoffs both of those years before posting a losing record (8-9) and missing the postseason for the first time under McDaniel in 2024.
About 90% of the teams that started 0-2 missed the playoffs since the 1970 NFL merger.
“I wouldn’t say there’s alerts going on right now with ‘Man, the season is over,'” Tagovailoa said Sunday after the Dolphins’ loss to the New England Patriots.
“I think the alerts are more on, what are we doing that we’ve done all these other years to start fast, to help us get to where we want to go, to where we want to have those explosives, the pre-snap communication, the timing, the operation, all of that.
“I think that’s where the alert is more a concern, is trying to find that urgency back for our offense and then for our team, as well.”
Dolphins fans made their feelings known, with chorus of boos frequently funneling down to the field Sunday in Miami Gardens. Fans also came together and raised nearly $2,000 for a GoFundMe campaign to fly a banner at their home opener.
The banner, which appeared over Hard Rock Stadium before Sunday’s game, read “Fire Grier, Fire McDaniel” — a message meant for owner Stephen Ross targeting general manager Chris Grier and the head coach.
“I don’t think it’s personal. I think they want to win, and so do I,” McDaniel said Sunday.
Frustration is boiling amid an NFL-worst playoff win drought of 25 years. Fans are already planning for a second banner for the Dolphins’ second home game of 2025 — a Sept. 29 Monday Night Football matchup with the New York Jets. Most odds makers list McDaniel with the best odds for the first NFL coach to be fired this season.
“I didn’t see any of that, but did hear the boos,” Tagovailoa said of the banner. “It’s part of the game. The fans pay money, their hard-earned money to come and see their team play, and we go out there and we don’t look the part as we have previous years. So it’s all understandable, and it comes with the game.
“You get the boos, you get the cheers. It’s like anything else, you get the highs, you get the lows. But for us mentally as players, we’ve got to stay even-keeled. We’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to continue to trust one another and build off of whatever this game was.”
Tagovailoa completed 72.4% of his throws for 429 yards, three scores and three interceptions so far in 2025. He was sacked eight times in those two starts, leading to the highest sack percentage of his career 12.7% — a mark likely tied to the Dolphins’ offensive line injuries and poor performance from the unit.
His 6.44 adjusted yards gained per pass attempt and 5.5% interception percentage are the worst marks of his career since he started a season as a full-time starter.
Pro Football Focus rated Tagovailoa as the 32nd-best quarterback in the league so far this season. To turn things around, he’ll need to tune out the increasing noise and overcome odds against the Buffalo Bills. Tagovailoa has a 1-8 record against the Dolphins’ AFC East rivals, including an 0-5 mark on the road.
The Dolphins will face the Bills for the first time this season at 8:15 p.m. EDT Thursday in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Bills are the heaviest favorites at 12.5 points in the NFL this week.
“Thursday night games, after a loss they can be a blessing because you have no time to think about anything else and quite literally I can paint a picture that I think the team is understanding, is that every moment that you spend thinking about anything but the opponent is going to serve you in the worst,” McDaniel said.
“So, I think it’s extremely important that the guys are solely focused as I am on the Bills and nothing else because that’s all that does matter, and truth be told, that’s the formula for Week 3 every year regardless of your record.”
