Can McDaniel and Tua Turn Things Around?

Thinking about this season is not fun for so many reasons, but the main thing on my mind lately is Tua's relationship with McDaniel. When McD arrived, Tua had zero confidence and felt like he didn't belong. McD promised to do all he could to get the most out of Tua and if we're being honest, he likely delivered on that promise 100%. Everything about the offense (besides blocking) benefited Tua's strengths as a QB.

I remember a few seasons ago when the offense was humming, we started to see "Salty Tua" and all of us loved it. The media took shots, Tua fired back, and the room was a little shocked that he was finding some confidence. It was no coincidence that's when the team was at its best- that's the Tua we all need for this team to work.

This season though, how does McDaniel turn this around? It feel like the relationship is falling apart and for the first time as a head coach, McD can't be Tua's friend and mentor...he actually has to be the team's leader. And I don't think either one of them know how to work through that together.

For the record, I don't think Tua did anything seriously wrong about mentioning players skipping team meetings and such. It was a bad answer, sure, but not what the media is making it out to be like he sold out his teammates. No names were called, no bridges burned so to speak, but the fallout is making it tough for McD to gain any confidence from his QB1.

If he defends Tua, who's playing horrible, then he's a sell-out himself. But if he doesn't defend Tua, does the kid have the emotional maturity to overcome that on his own? I don't think he does, I think he cares too much and can't handle the media bashing. That's why he's giving answers about going home to his family after practice and games...it's true, but it's the worst possible answer for a team that's spiraling.

Of course, there's also Tua's actual play to consider here- his pinpoint accuracy isn't seen nearly enough this season. He also doesn't have the velocity that we saw only a season ago, and I wonder how much of it is physical versus mental. Is he really just going through the motions waiting to be traded away? It he considering just retiring?

I don't know and I don't have the answer.

But at the same time, hopefully you fine folks realize that Tua is basically "untradable" this season or next season. We can scream, "new quarterback" all we want, but the reality is that he'll either be the starter or riding the bench with a massive contract. Benching Tua does absolutely nothing in this scenario since he's a virtual lock, so the relationship between Tua and McD must be repaired. But how?