Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores got brutally honest about Tua Tagovailoa this past week.
On the heels of Miami’s 31-23 defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, Flores was confronted with a question that has become all too common in recent weeks.
When are you starting Tagovailoa?
“As far as him being a starter, we just don’t feel like he’s ready yet,” he said.
On Sunday, Flores explained that the severity of the hip injury that ended Tagovailoa’s career at Alabama should not be discounted. It still weighs heavily on his mind.
“Look, the honest thing for me is what if it was my kid, and he had a serious injury like that, I wouldn’t want his coach to be in a rush to throw him in there because of anything like that,” Flores said.
“That’s kind of how I approach this situation and really all situations with the players. They essentially are my kids. No one is going to pressure me into anything. When we feel like he is ready to go, we’ll put him in.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick, for his part, knows he has be the best version of himself in order to retain the starting position. And that includes delivering in the red zone.
“Red zone execution really falls on the quarterback,” he said after the team’s most recent loss.
“So for me, I walk out of this game really feeling terrible because I felt a lot of the guys on our team played well enough to win and I, unfortunately, was not one of them.”
The Texans know something big needs to change. https://t.co/36zIxQ2xEW
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 6, 2020
Over the next few weeks, the Dolphins have outings on the books against the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals.
It is understandable why Flores would prefer to have Fitzpatrick for those games.
However, after that, the team will take on the New York Jets back to back and Cincinnati Bengals. Those are three solid practice runs Tagovailoa could get with relatively little pressure.
Aaron Rodgers’ family must be in town.
https://t.co/yx9le7ipG9— Game 7 (@game7__) October 6, 2020
Of course, after that come the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills – so it would only be a short reprieve.
One way or another, Miami will need to throw Tagovailoa to the wolves at some point.
When will it happen, though? Not any time soon, apparently.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
