Tagovailoa, Garrett look to ease their frustrations when Dolphins visit Browns

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Cleveland Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett are both frustrated with their team's 1-5 starts to the season.

They face each other on Sunday on the lakefront in Cleveland hoping to turns things around.

Both players vented after losses last week and took their share of criticism.

Tagovailoa’s criticized teammates for being late to meetings after last Sunday’s 29-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, which re-ignited questions about the Dolphins’ culture.

The sixth-year quarterback — who is 39-29 as the Dolphins starter — opened Wednesday’s news conference Wednesday with an apology to teammates after his comments were criticized.

Those culture issues came up at the end of last season, when behind-the-scenes conflicts such as player tardiness were revealed, with coach Mike McDaniel giving out fines.

McDaniel and Dolphins players have repeated that the culture issues have since been solved, and veteran defensive tackle Zach Sieler said he sees the team camaraderie coming together.

“There’s been stuff in the past we have absolutely fixed,” Sieler said. “We have a lot of new guys on my side of the ball, and I think we have a lot of guys that want to buy in. They’re buying into the culture. They’re trying to put their best foot forward. We aren’t making some of the plays we need to make, and the best thing we can do is be present, deliver every practice to really hone in on those plays to make it as game-like as possible, so on Sunday we start making those plays.”

Garrett said “to lose the same way every time, it’s frustrating,” after the Browns were defeated 23-9 at Pittsburgh. The latest comments came after he said a Week 2 loss at Baltimore was “embarrassing.”

Teammates took Garrett's frustration in stride, but not some fans and local talk show hosts after the All-Pro pass rusher was held without a sack for the third straight game. Garrett demanded a trade during the offseason because he had concerns about the team's direction before signing a four-year extension worth $204.8 million.

“I process it as there’s still wins out there to be had, we still got more games to be played, so it is what it is, the games that’s already been played and our record's not what we wanted it to be, but there’s still opportunities to go out there and get some more wins and stack them up,” cornerback Denzel Ward said. “So just got to think about the next game and see what we could do to get that win and that’s my focus.”

The Dolphins have lost four games in which they had the chance to put away opponents in the second half. The Browns have one of the league's best defenses, but the offense has scored 17 points or fewer in 11 straight games going back to last season.

Whichever team wins on Sunday will get a chance to quiet some of the criticisms for a couple of days.

Dillon Gabriel has been solid in his first two starts. The third-round pick has a 56.5% completion rate, 411 yards, two TD passes and a 77.1 passer rating in losses to the Vikings and Steelers.

Gabriel, who is making his first start in Cleveland, is hoping his offensive line can do a better job protecting him after he was sacked six times and took 16 QB hits last week in Pittsburgh.

“I think you continue to learn from each start each time going in there. There’s a lot of details that you want to fine-tune and continue to get better at and get more comfortable with that,” Gabriel said.

The left-handers from Hawaii faced each other briefly in high school. The 2016 game between Gabriel’s Mililani High School and Tagovailoa’s Saint Louis School was cancelled after one quarter because of a power outage.

“Smooth thrower, can run, sees the field really well, and he’s a Hawaii boy, so you always got to support the guys from back home," Tagovailoa said.

Miami's De’Von Achane is tied for second among running backs with six scrimmage touchdowns (three rushing, three receiving) and is fifth with 585 scrimmage yards. The Browns are giving up an average of 102 yards on the ground in the past three games after having the league’s best run defense through the first three weeks.

Cleveland's Quinshon Judkins is second among rookies in rushing (383 yards) and has at least 70 scrimmage yards in four of the five games he has played. The Dolphins are last in the league in run defense, allowing 168.5 yards rushing per game.

Rookie guard Jonah Savaiinaea has struggled through the first six games of his NFL career and is ranked last by Pro Football Focus among NFL guards.

The Dolphins moved up in the second round to select Savaiinaea earlier this year with the expectation that he would be able to immediately make an impact — they needed that much for their much-maligned offensive line.

But there have been numerous times that Savaiinaea — who this year transitions from his natural spot on the right side — has missed assignments in the run game, and consistently gets beat at the snap for a sack or pressure on Tagovailoa.

___

AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames in Miami Gardens, Florida, contributed to this story.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl