Following last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, there was some thought given to the idea that rookie first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa could start at quarterback over Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Miami Dolphins this coming week.
Dolphins head coach Brian Flores would not initially commit to starting Fitzpatrick against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5. That’s now changed.
Dolphins name Ryan Fitzpatrick Week 5 starter
Miami currently sits at 1-3 through four weeks and finds itself three games behind the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. Its only win came against the fellow one-win Jacksonville Jaguars back in Week 3.
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As for Fitzpatrick, he’s now thrown four touchdowns compared to five interceptions through the quarter pole of the 2020 season.
Dolphins won’t be forced into starting Tua Tagovailoa
“He’s checked all the boxes from a medical standpoint. He has,” Flores said Monday, via ESPN. “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.”
Tagovailoa is said to be 100% healthy after suffering a serious hip injury during his final season with the Alabama Crimson Tide. That has led to some pushing for Miami to go with their future franchise quarterback under center sooner rather than later. Obviously, Flores is having none of that.
The issue here is that Fitzpatrick has led a Dolphins offense that ranks in the bottom nine in points scored through four weeks. Further struggles from this unit could lead to louder talk from both the media and fans to start Tua. If the Fins were to struggle against the NFL’s second-best scoring defense on Sunday, that chatter will increase more.