Nick Saban admits to shock that Tua Tagovailoa 'threw some guys under the bus'

Tua Tagovailoa opened Wednesday’s weekly press conference by publicly apologizing for postgame comments Sunday critizing teammates for allegedly showing up late to a players-only meeting last week. In the apology, the Miami Dolphins quarterback owned up to his own role as a team leader after venting his frustrations following last Sunday’s 29-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers amid a 1-5 start.

“I made a mistake and I’m owning up to it right now,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday, according to video provided by 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. … For myself, I have to look at myself as a leader protecting the team, and 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 I can learn from as a leader on this team. What happens in-house should be protected, and none of that should’ve gotten out.”

Nick Saban, Tagovailoa’s college coach at Alabama, revealed he was “really shocked” his former quarterback would let his emotions get the better of him after a game, but expressed pride with how he took ownership of the mistake in judgement.

Nick Saban: ‘I was really shocked that Tua (Tagovailoa) did what he did’

“I am proud of the way he handled it. But what I always try to tell our players is you never criticize another player. … I think everybody has to take responsibility for what they can control. And if you start worrying about things you can’t control, that’s going to start affecting things you can control,” Saban said Friday during his weekly appearance on The Paul McAfee Show. “I was really shocked that Tua did what he did when he threw some guys under the bus. And maybe they’re not playing the way that they should play – I’m not taking up for the guys – but you don’t say that about your teammates. But I was really proud of the way he came back and sort of took accountability for making a mistake.”

Tagovailoa’s apology came three days after he seemed to call out multiple teammates for their perceived lackadaisical approach to working to fix what’s ailed the Dolphins this season. The rant came after another difficult game for Tagovailoa, who threw three costly interceptions in a 21-of-32 passing effort for just 205 yards and one touchdown against the Chargers.

“I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys and what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tagovailoa said Sunday after the loss. “We’re expecting this, are we 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 that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory? So it’s a lot of things of that nature that we’ve got to get cleaned up and it starts with the little things like that.”

Miami has now lost back-to-back games since its lone win of the season against the New York Jets in Week 4. The Dolphins hit the road this weekend to face the Cleveland Browns at 1 pm ET Sunday.