The Miami Dolphins were excited to welcome Tua Tagovailoa back into the starting lineup on Sunday. The team struggled mightily without Tagovailoa at the helm: Miami lost three of four games, failing to score more than 15 points in any of them, while the offense struggled with backup quarterbacks Tyler Huntley, Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle.

But Tagovailoa appeared to have some rust left to shake off as he cleared concussion protocol and returned to the lineup for a home game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. Tagovailoa’s return immediately brought Mike McDaniel’s offense back to life, and the team scored a season. – high 27 points. Things unraveled late, though, thanks in large part to a crucial mistake by Tua, whose foul with 6:22 left in the third quarter proved to be the turning point in an eventual 28-27 loss.

Tagovailoa was unable to push from shotgun center Aaron Brewer on second-and-10 from Miami’s 13-yard line, and the ball bounced quickly into the end zone. In a desperate attempt to prevent an Arizona touchdown, Tagovailoa fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety, making it a one-score game.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Tagovailoa took time to address criticism of the game-changing game.

“It’s as simple as catching the ball in the gun,” Tagovailoa told reporters. “I’d say I’m a pretty good shortstop guy; I have pretty good eyesight; I have pretty good hands. I’d like to see a lot of other people go back there and try to catch that ball as well. You saw him. It wasn’t (Aaron Brewer’s) best and Brew knows he can get it better, but it wasn’t my best either. But I’m just saying to put it into perspective, it’s not as easy as it looks sitting on the couch eating crisps.”

A lot of athletes have criticized fans for criticizing their poor performances and it never ends well for the player. And the logic doesn’t even add up: If Tagovailoa gets rotten food at a restaurant, he probably wouldn’t be happy with it, even if he couldn’t cook it better himself. At the end of the day, Tagovailoa gets paid to perform and the fans generate the revenue that pays his salary.

Blaming Brewer for the play isn’t exactly a great look. While the snap may have been a little high, it certainly wasn’t out of the ordinary for an NFL quarterback. As for a separate fumble on the play, Tagovailoa took full responsibility.

“The one below center?” Tua said. “It was just my fault, it was just my fault.” So he knows how this should work.