MIAMI — The coach who helped jump-start Tua Tagovailoa’s NFL career is now considering benching him.

Mike McDaniel, who helped mold Tagovailoa into the league’s 2023 passing leader but has watched the quarterback sharply regress this season, said Tuesday that he is giving thought to a quarterback change.

“The QB play last night was not good enough,” McDaniel said of Monday’s 28-15 loss to Pittsburgh. “Everything is on the table. We have to have a standard at each position.

“There’s no one entitled to preferential treatment. When there’s a better option, it’s my job to attack that. Ultimately, there needs to be better play at that position.”

McDaniel declined to say whether No. 2 quarterback Zach Wilson or No. 3 quarterback Quinn Ewers would get the start Sunday against visiting Cincinnati (1 p.m., CBS) if Tagovailoa is benched.

McDaniel said he likely would offer more public clarity on Wednesday and that none of the quarterbacks has been informed of their role moving forward because a final decision had not been made as of 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Asked if he believes it’s time to look for a new quarterback for 2026, McDaniel said: “It would be insulting to the 2025 Dolphins to have my mind wander” to that, he said.

As part of his four-year, $212 million that he signed in the summer of 2024, Tagovailoa is guaranteed to receive $53 million from the Dolphins next season, whether he’s on the team or not.

If the Dolphins cut Tagovailoa before June 1, his 2026 dead money Dolphins cap hit would be $99 million before falling to $67 million after June 1, according to overthecap.com.

Conversely, keeping him next season would carry a $56.4 million cap hit.

Trading him before June 1 would result in a $45 million hit on the Dolphins’ 2026 books; trading him after June 1 would carry a $13 million 2026 Dolphins cap hit, but would be followed by significant cap hits spread out over future years.

McDaniel was asked if he has owner Stephen Ross’ blessing to bench Tagovailoa without it affecting McDaniel’s chances of being retained as coach next season.

McDaniel declined to disclose that, saying his conversations with Ross are confidential.

But he said Ross “wants to win games and is disappointed when we don’t. My job is to do the best thing for the football team. A lot of times, it’s doing the hard thing. It’s always what gives us the best chance to win the game.”

Tagovailoa threw for just 65 yards in three quarters on Monday and entered the fourth quarter with a passer rating below 50%, the fifth time that has happened this season. He padded his stats with two fourth quarter touchdowns, after the Dolphins’ deficit had grown to 28-3, and finished the game with 253 passing yards and a misleading 113.2 passer rating.

Tagovailoa has thrown a league-high 16 interceptions and his QBR in 30th in the league. He has won only three of his last 15 starts against teams with winning records, and Miami has failed to score more than 17 points in seven of those games.

McDaniel said he considered inserting Wilson in the second half of Monday’s loss but thought “Tua gives us the best chance” in that game.

Asked whether it would be worth seeing what the Dolphins have in the rookie seventh-round pick Ewers, McDaniel made clear he’s not going to be motivated by that type of thinking.

“I will [play] the quarterback that gives us the best chance to win,” he said. “I’m not going to turn everybody’s game into a trial practice.”

McDaniel said the quarterback play this season simply wasn’t good enough Monday.

“The expectation is we would have a better performance,” he said. “You have a standard and when the standard is not being met, something has got to give.”

He said the quarterback must “move the chains and get the ball to the open guys” and that isn’t happening.

Tagovailoa flourished when McDaniel replaced Brian Flores in 2022; he threw 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions that season while leading the league in passer rating at 105.5 and benefitting from an offense that featured Tyreek Hill, who was voted the NFL’s top player by his peers two years ago.

In 2023, Tagovailoa threw 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions and led the league in passing yards (4624).

In 2024, he led the league in completion percentage at 72.4.

But his passer rating has dipped from 105.5, 101.1 and 101.4 in his first three seasons under McDaniel to 88.5 this season, which is 23rd in the league.

According to Pro Football Focus, he leads all quarterbacks in “turnover-worthy plays,” which includes not only fumbles and interceptions but dropped interceptions and other blatant mistakes.

Why has Tagovailoa regressed so much? McDaniel was asked if it’s the result of poor decision making, mechanics, diminished athleticism, a combination of those or something else?

McDaniel declined to specifically answer that question because he said it would “trivialize” the subject, adding that “you are trying endlessly to bring the best out of a player.”

Asked if he believes it’s time to look for a new quarterback for 2026, McDaniel said: “It would be insulting to the 2025 Dolphins to have my mind wander” to that, he said.

Asked if he is concerned about losing Tagovailoa emotionally or risking him going into a shell if he’s benched, McDaniel said: “If that’s something that disappoints him, I can understand that. But there’s a reason you invest all the time and energy into relationships before you count on relationships.

“The important part is developing relationships with people. Over the course of time, you may not agree with every decision.”

Tagovailoa’s mobility, never a particular strength, has worsened over time, partly because he is protecting himself from head injuries (on the advice of the Dolphins) and perhaps because of past hip injuries.

Tagovailoa has rushed 20 times this season (for 43 yards) and has picked up a first down only once.

Asked if that lack of mobility has limited McDaniel’s playbook and whether it’s more difficult to win with a quarterback without it, McDaniel answered carefully.

“You always play to players’ strengths,” McDaniel said. “I’m pretty sure Tua has just as much speed as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. You have to cater your game with conviction to the best way to distribute the ball and make plays.”

In six pro seasons, Tagovailoa, 27, has thrown for 18,166 yards, with 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions, a 68 percent completion rate and a 96.4 passer rating.

His contract runs through 2028, but 2026 is the last season when he’s owed guaranteed money.

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