The Miami Dolphins are 7-4 this season and staring at a prime opportunity to lock in their eight win of the season next weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals — but rest assured there will be plenty of talk this week dedicated to a competition that has nothing to do between these two AFC franchises. Instead, we’ll hear plenty about the “battle” between Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Fitzpatrick in Miami’s offensive backfield after Ryan Fitzpatrick spelled Tua Tagovailoa late in a Week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos and provided needed stability for Miami in a 20-3 win over the New York Jets yesterday afternoon.
Except there’s just one problem. There is no competition to be had according to Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores.
“If he’s healthy, (Tua) is the guy. I don’t know how many different ways we have to continue to say that. You keep asking, I’ll keep answering the same way,” said Flores during his postgame availability with the South Florida media.
“Again, he’s dealing with something with the hand. We’ll take it day-to-day. He’s a tough kid. He wants to be out there.”
The Dolphins likely would have loved to have seen Tagovailoa in a “bounce back” as well. He did warmups with certain members of the team and the television broadcast made note that Tagovailoa did make an effort to throw some passes in the tunnel of the stadium ahead of the game. It didn’t matter — Tagovailoa was not dressed and Fitzpatrick enjoyed a proficient day at the offense with 257 passing yards and two scores.
There will be plenty of opinions from fans and pundits this week on the subject. And whether they think Fitzpatrick should start, the Dolphins are babying Tagovailoa or there’s some massive conspiracy by the coaches to push Fitzpatrick back up the depth chart, just remember this: This is Tua Tagovailoa’s team. Brian Flores has said so. And when you compare his comment tho how he handled his backing (and subsequent benching) of young QB Josh Rosen last year, the difference in tone is quite noticeable. Here’s how Flores handled a question about who his starter is after benching Rosen for Fitzpatrick against the Washington Football Team in 2019:
“Josh is the starter, I would say. But as this thing – as we continue to move along – there’s always competition. I mean I think everyone needs to feel that. I need to feel that. The players need to feel that,” said Flores.
Not quite “if he’s healthy, he’s the guy”, is it? Which is why so long as Tagovailoa’s left hand cooperates, there will be no competition in Miami’s backfield. The job is Tagovailoa’s and it will be to stay.