Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in 2023, and he has been just as sharp for much of this season.

But on Wednesday, Tagovailoa shouldered a share of the blame for what he called a surprising 5-7 start, saying his month-long stint on injured reserve with a concussion played a huge part in the way this season has unfolded, Alanis Thames of The Associated Press reports.

“I don’t think that (record) shows the character of who we are as a team,” Tagovailoa said. “It doesn’t show the work that we’ve put in this offseason together.

“Nobody else will say it but me, and I feel like this has a lot to do with myself, obviously putting myself in harm’s way in the second game, going down and basically leaving my guys out to dry ... I do take heart to that as well and don’t want to do that to my guys again.”

The Dolphins looked like they were returning to last season’s form during a recent three-game winning streak, but questions about Miami’s toughness resurfaced after a poor performance at frigid Lambeau Field last Thursday, when the temperature at kickoff was around 27 degrees.

The Dolphins have lost their past 12 regular-season or postseason games in which the temperature at kickoff was 40 degrees or lower, with more potential cold weather games coming up at Houston, Cleveland and the New York Jets later this season. Miami was 4-10 in games played in December or later in the past two seasons.

“Collectively you’ve got to all have that same mindset,” Tagovailoa said of Miami’s toughness. “That’s why we have team football, that’s why you’re in team sports. I think you’ve got to look at it as, are you mentally tough and are you physically tough? They have to go hand in hand. If one of those things has a kink in it, it could go one way or the other.”

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