Chargers 29, Dolphins 27
Q. How would you describe your emotions?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I don't know, shocked. Shocked I guess you could say. Just this is something that we've talked about collectively as a team, about being able to finish in games like this where we have the opportunity to win the game.
And it's not just one side of the ball. Every phase. I've contributed with the turnovers. You know, we had some missed opportunities in teams and then we had some missed opportunities on defense as well.
But for us to go out there and have an opportunity to seal the game and then we don't allow that to happen, either way, last week, Carolina, offense, this week, you know, you can look at it however you want. That is just like -- that's just not the way we want to play football and establish what we been talking about throughout OTAs, training camp, and even in our meetings, our leadership meetings.
It's from frustrating to say the least.
Q. What has been the -- you mentioned some of it -- the inability of this team to play complementary football or one side does well and special teams, just so many things when one thing goes well go bad?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, I think there is a lot of things though go into it. Adjustments on the other side of the ball if you're on defense, vice versa for offense. Now we got to make adjustments if we're not able to convert our third downs and continue the flow for ourselves offensively and defensively.
Then with teams, you know, they got to go out there and they got to do what they do, knowing who they got, knowing what rush lanes they're in, all of that.
So I would say it's just adjustments. Like you got to continue to adjust throughout the game, and that's the name of the game as we play it.
Q. What was the difference in the third quarter, two possessions? Fourth quarter you had a score; did it twice. What sparked it?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think just settling down with the guys kind of finding the flow, get a completion, run the ball, stay ahead of the chains, third and manageable, convert on our third downs, and then continue to play normal football.
Q. First interception, Jaylen Waddle; just a last second hope. What happened on that second one, the one in between?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: The second one, that was just a bad ball. Just bad ball. Bad ball that I threw to De'Von.
Q. On the first one was there a little bit of hesitation, a pump there?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: To Waddle?
Q. Uh-huh.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, just as I'm dropping back trying to see what 0 wants to do. Me and 0 aren't the tallest guys out there, so when you got three pillars standing in between us I got to find out if he's staying there looking at me, looking out for Jaylen, or if he's pushing the coverage. Then when I verified it was pushing this way because he turned, then I came back to Jaylen.
Q. Last week you said this feeling sucks; today shocked. Where does this go from now?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Only place we can go is next week. You know, we talk about figuring this out. We talk about getting it together collectively, like what are the problems, what are the issues, are they getting fixed, are they not getting fixed, why are they not getting fixed, if they're fixed, how are we not allowing it to happen again.
We got to look at the film again, see where we can go. I contributed to a lot of that as well with the three turnovers. You can't do that and expect to win games.
But we all got to look at ourselves not pointing fingers. Look at ourselves individually first about what I could have done to help our team win that game, and then we can come together and we can talk about, all right, we need this group to do this better or whatever.
But that's what I say. It's frustrating.
Q. What was Mike's message to you guys collectively in the locker room after this?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: We got to continue to stay together. Everyone is going to want to say what they want to say. We going to continue to stay together. ^ Jordan Brooks ^ Jordyn Brooks shared a Bible verse with us as well. I thought it was super dope about a brother being born for adversity. We're in adversity right now. He was talking about like this is what this is about. Although we can't see the picture of what God's plan is for us as a football team, where we are right now, we can continue to be grateful for where we are but not content.
You know, grateful but not content. We got to continue to strive to get better and do things a different way. Has to be different. Has to be different. Can't do the same things expecting, all right, we're going to get a different result.
Q. Darren Waller scores his fourth touchdown in three games. Can you talk about what he's meant to you and this offense?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: He's a baller. D-Wall, he's a baller. The ball finds him every time in the end zone. The relationship I have with him is the relationship I have with a lot of the guys. It's just the connection. He's just so much bigger and allows for me to see him a lot earlier in my peripheral; whereas I got to kind of look at guys and confirm areas for them.
So with D-Wall, he's just a ball hawk. Finds the ball in the end zone.
Q. 46 seconds left. Did you think you had done it or did you look up at the clock, the guy was on the other side and think, there is a shot here?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: No, it's the NFL. The only thing -- my job there was to score literally. If not, we would've lost the game.
After that, cheering on the defense, cheering on the special teams guys to go out there, it's the NFL. Anything can happen. Even at that five second mark. If we got a come completion and we were able to do whatever the Miami Miracle is that happened, that would've been sweet.
But anything can happen in the league, so I wouldn't say any time we score with a minute or 30 seconds or 20 seconds left that it's necessarily over because you got to keep playing until it hits 0-0.
Q. On that, do you think with Mike moving forward you guys have conversations, hey, maybe we try to score with 15 seconds left, get a run play in to manage the clock a little bit better?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, I don't think you work it necessarily in that sense that way only because the way they were using their timeouts. Outside of that, third down, you got to have a fourth down play, there is just a lot of logistics that go into that.
But then that's where you got -- you have faith in your defense. You got your defense. You also got your special teams guys going out there. You know, you allow them to play the game as well.
Q. How do you keep this team from taking a woe is me mentality?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Like -- sorry?
Q. How do you keep this team from taking a woe is me mentality, like this keeps happening to us situation?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, well, it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys, and then what we're expecting out of the guys. We're expecting this. Are we getting that? Are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to player only meetings late, guys not showing up.
There is a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make that mandatory, not make that mandatory. So it's a lot of things of that nature that we got to get cleaned up. It starts with the little things like that?
Q. To be clear you're saying some players were late or missed?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Late, yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports