Tua Tagovailoa says he hasn’t heard from Flores since criticism

MIAMI — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he hasn’t heard from Brian Flores after the two publicly exchanged comments about the nature of their relationship last week.

Speaking to local media Monday, Tagovailoa said that he didn’t have anything to add to the comments he made about his former coach and that Flores hadn’t reached out to him.

During an appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show” released last week, Tagovailoa called out the former Dolphins head coach for his perceivably brash coaching style, emphasizing current coach Mike McDaniel’s contrasting, supportive style.

“To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you you suck at what you did, that you don’t belong doing what you do, that you shouldn’t be here, that this guy should be here, that you haven’t earned this right, and then you have somebody else come in and tell you, ‘Dude, you are the best fit for this,'” he said, “how would it make you feel listening to one or the other, you see what I’m saying?

“And then you hear it, no matter what it is, the good or the bad, you hear it more and more, you start to believe that. I don’t care who you are. You could be the president of the United States, you have a terrible person telling you things that you don’t want to hear or probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start believing that about yourself. And so that’s what sort of ended up happening. It was, it’s basically been, what, two years of training that out of not just me but a couple of guys as well that have been here my rookie year all the way until now.”

Now the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, Flores was asked about Tagovailoa’s comments and acknowledged that after reflecting on their situation, there were things he could have done better.

He also expressed a desire to learn from Tagovailoa’s criticism — though he admitted to not responding positively when he was first made aware of his former player’s comments.

“Look, I’m human,” Flores said. “So that hit me in a way that wasn’t … positive for me. But at the same time, I’ve got to use that and say, ‘Hey, how can I grow from that? How can I be better?’ And that’s really where I’m at from that standpoint. Do I feel like that’s me? No. But how can I grow from that situation and create a world where that’s not the case that anyone says that about Brian Flores?”

Tagovailoa said he had not seen Flores’ response.

Flores coached the Dolphins during Tagovailoa’s first two NFL seasons in 2020 and 2021, which resulted in a 19-14 record but no playoff appearances. Flores was fired after the 2021 season and the Dolphins hired McDaniel a month later.

Tagovailoa has flourished since McDaniel’s arrival, setting career highs with 4,624 passing yards and 29 touchdowns last season. He signed a four-year $212.1 million extension this offseason. McDaniel declined to comment on the nature of Flores’ relationship with Tagovailoa but has worked to instill confidence in his quarterback for the past two years — going as far as showing him a 700-play highlight tape before the 2022 season, which consisted of plays McDaniel believed made Tagovailoa a good fit for his offense.

“I’m so laser focused into what this locker room needs and this particular set of circumstances that it’s hard for me to kind of really appropriately assess that it feels like, I think it almost — I’m not spending much time patting myself on the back for much,” McDaniel said last week.

“I think there’s a lot of players that have grown since I’ve been here, and that growth is all that I care about, and the inherent growth that they’ve already had. I’m just really focused on pushing guys to be their best selves or the best version of themselves and reach new heights, and that’s got me plenty occupied. I don’t really have time to reflect like that.