The Dolphins have treated him so poorly that is there any way to recover from it?

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

TC--Absolutely salvageable. "loyalty down, begets loyalty up." This point was taught at the US Naval Academy at the turn of the 19th Century (1900). Simply it means take care of your men, treat them with dignity and respect and they will respect you and your orders. Be straight with them, show honest concern for them. They will know the difference between mere words and actions which must be true to form. This is something I applied daily during my career.

Another point is to never berate a man in public. Take him aside and talk with him, not yell and be obnoxious. The object is to correct errors in behavior, make them think, give them direction and give them confidence that they will do what is best next time. Blowing your cool in front of men disrupts belief and turns morale sideways.

With the Dolphins, I am not sure, the HC or assistant coaches do this. Public airing of problems with certain players undermines morale and team spirit.

Firmness in conversation followed by actions that comply with the conversation is all important.

Flores sticking with Tua, saying it is so, no matter what, must be followed up with Flores speaking confidently, sincerely, about Tua's game play each week. He must be an ardent supporter of the kid and mean it by his actions. He must dispel rumors and be firm about it.

All great points. You have the foundation of leadership down.

But have the Dolphins done that? They actively pursed Watson all summer. They never dispelled any rumors and reportedly Ross OK a trade . It's all public . I'm dumbfounded TUA has demanded a trade.

Im not a huge TUA fan but My boys love him. As bad as we want to win ,many do not like seeing a good man treated so poorly. The Dolphins need to shit or get off the pot. Its one thing to "look into" a Watson trade....hes a generational talent. It's another to actually have a trade offer in place. Huge slap in the face.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

Between the ownership and other executives (I will call them that) allowing rumors to start by leaking information to others can't be helped in today's world of sports.

Remember the nonsense with Sparano and how the ownership played him and treated him. This is the same ownership although there are different executives advising today.

It would have been better to tell Tua, something like this. "We selected you as we hoped you'd be our franchise QB. We took a gamble. Unfortunately, we don't have confidence in you ability to become the superstar we need. We will be searching, once again, for that star. We need you for 2021 and will do everything we can to develop you so that a trade can be accomplished to another team that can develop you further." At least Tus would know where he stands. He would not give up, but be more robust and go out on a high note to another "wanting him" team. I say that because Tua is humble and is of good character. He deserves respect and another firm opportunity to excel elsewhere.

Based on past approaches this franchise has taken with players, I am not surprised that the team is just bumping along. The game tomorrow with the Bills will be another black eye for the team and the franchise. The Bills are very good--We are lousy. Too much drama. Too much nonsense. That spells F-a-i-l-u-r-e.

I understand what you are saying, and in most fields that is the most important thing for a leader, but in pro football I believe that trying to motivate a bunch of millionaires changes the dynamic a little bit. Each one of these guys has to be handled somewhat differently, and it has always been that way in the league. Besides, how do you make that believable if you really DON'T believe in the guy?

Rick

Unfortunately, you don't need a crystal ball for that one.

Rick