After five injury-riddled, up-and-down seasons, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa heads into 2025 looking like a different player—at least that’s what his teammate and protector, Austin Jackson, said. But for Tagovailoa, the change hasn’t just taken place in him.
Speaking with reporters at Tuesday’s press conference as the Dolphins’ minicamp kicked off, the 27-year-old claimed he had noticed a shift in the team culture and appeared highly optimistic about the 2025 season.
Tua Tagovailoa Feels Change of Scenery in Miami Dolphins’ Locker Room
The Dolphins have finished second in the AFC East in each of Mike McDaniel’s three seasons as head coach. In 2024, though, the team suffered its first losing season under McDaniel, having relied on backup quarterbacks as Tagovailoa missed a career-high six games due to injuries.
However, the losing season appears to have prompted a shift in team culture and improved chemistry and work ethic, at least that’s what Tagovailoa has noticed.
“I think there is a culture shift,” Tagovailoa said. “I feel it just as much as everyone that’s been here since I’ve gotten into the league. We always hear about, ‘Man, culture shift. You guys have a change of this. You guys are doing this, always optimistic.’
“But I really do feel in my heart that this is a change of scenery for our guys in the locker room, and then it also transitions to our coaches as well, because we get opportunities to lead and it’s not as much the coaches as it is the players, I would say, this year.”
While the Dolphins are a very strong team when Tagovailoa is healthy, many fans believe that the team is stuck in mediocrity. Tagovailoa echoed similar concerns during the press conference and suggested the reason behind the shift in culture was perhaps this mediocrity.
📊 Tua Tagovailoa is the only QB in the NFL to have had a 100+ passer rating in each of the last three seasons
Rarified air. 🎯 (@NFLonCBS) #PhinsUp pic.twitter.com/nfI058MXiN
— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) June 9, 2025
“For me, I think what’s most important is, I’ve been here for five years, going on six,” Tagovailoa later added. “Are you not tired of what we’ve done these past five years? If you are, then why aren’t we doing anything about it? What do we have to change? What do we have to do to correct the navigation of where we want to go?
“I would say that’s what it is. You create that standard in the locker room, the guys follow, and you’ve got to uphold it. So you come into work knowing that they are looking to you to uphold that standard, and if you don’t, you’ve got to have brought enough guys to hold you to that standard as well.”
Tagovailoa further revealed that he had noticed the effects of the shift in the limited practice sessions so far, and that the team was establishing good chemistry on and off the field.