Flores: Dolphins staff doesn’t think Tua is ready
First-round pick Tua Tagovailoa remains the backup quarterback with the Miami Dolphins behind 37-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick.
On Wednesday, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores summarized the reasons for keeping the depth chart as-is.
“As far as being a starter, we just don’t feel like he’s ready there just yet,” Flores said Wednesday of Tagovailoa, who has not yet taken an NFL snap.
Fitzpatrick harshly graded his own performance in Week 4 and said he understood why fans are clamoring for the former Alabama star to start.
But Flores, who met extensively with his coaching staff to discuss the position this week, said the decision to remain with Fitzpatrick has several layers.
While addressing what he called “rough moments” with Fitzpatrick, Flores and the offensive coaching staff believe he still gives the Dolphins “the best chance to win right now.”
Tagovailoa, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is coming off of surgery for a hip injury he suffered while playing for Alabama last season.
“He’s checked all the boxes from a medical standpoint,” Flores said of the rookie on Monday. “He has. Look, the honest thing for me is if it was my kid, and he had a serious injury like that, I wouldn’t want his coach to throw him in there because of media pressure or anything like that. That’s kind of how I approach this situation and really all situations. The players, essentially, they are my kids. So no one is going to pressure me into doing anything. When we feel like he’s ready to go, we’ll put him in.”
Fitzpatrick has completed 69 percent of his passes for 994 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions.
–Field Level Media
