QB CONTROVERSY SURFACES IN MIAMI
Fitzpatrick says he's heartbroken after losing starting job
It's hard not to feel sorry for
Ryan Fitzpatrick, by all accounts a very likable 37-year old quarterback with the Miami Dolphins. Surprisingly, he had the Fish at 3-3, second in the AFC East. He's had more successes (10 touchdown passes) than failures (seven interceptions), and in terms of passing yardage, he's 12th in the NFL — just five behind Tom Brady and 33 ahead of leading MVP candidate Russell Wilson, who has played one less game.
Yes, things were going swimmingly for the bearded Dolphins passer until Tuesday, two days after a 24-0 shellacking of the New York Jets, when he was informed by head coach Brian Flores that he was being replaced as the starter by Tua Tagovailoa, the fifth choice in the 2020 NFL draft.
“I was shocked by it,” Fitzpatrick told reporters during a Zoom call on Wednesday. “It was a hard thing for me to hear. Digesting the news, my heart just hurt all day.
“It was heartbreaking for me.” It was a difficult decision for Flores and his staff to make, too. But they've seen Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert — the first and sixth pick — play well for the Bengals and Chargers. And Tagovailoa was viewed as the most pro-ready QB in the draft. The only question was how his surgically repaired hip would respond. But that's no longer a question.
“We feel that, through practice and meetings and walk-throughs, that he's ready,” said Flores. “Fitz has done a great job. He's been productive. His leadership has been great. It's not an easy decision for me or us as an organization. But we felt like, for the team now and moving forward, this is the move we need to make.”
Now there's a whole lot of pressure on the 22-year-old Tagovailoa, whose only NFL game experience is the two complete passes he made in a mop-up role on Sunday. The Dolphins, who have qualified for the post-season just twice since 2001, are just one game behind the division-leading Buffalo Bills. How are the players going to react to their beloved leader being fired, despite doing no wrong?
Tagovailoa was naturally excited about being handed the starter's job, but also admitted feeling some remorse.
“It kind of hurts me in a way, to see Fitz hurt,” he said. “I'm just very, very lucky to have someone like Fitz in my corner.
“I hate to say it, but it's like a father and son (relationship).”
That should make Fitzpatrick feel better.
OFF THE TEE: It looks like the Cleveland Browns still have a long way to go before they're considered a contender in the AFC North. Speaking with reporters for the first time since Sunday's thrashing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, quarterback Baker Mayfield told reporters that “4-2 has never felt so much like 0-6 before,” adding: “But that's because we have very high expectations of ourselves.”
As a franchise, the Browns are quite familiar with 0-6, and worse. They haven't had a winning season in 13 years.
This season, seemingly stocked with talent under rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski, the Browns have defeated Cincinnati (35-30), Washington (34-20), Dallas (49-38) and Indianapolis (32-23). But they have lost by a combined scored of 76-13 to divisional rivals Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Unless there's a huge disparity between two teams, it's difficult for one to sweep a season series with the other. The Bengals (1-41) aren't horrible. Other than a 27-3 blowout loss to the Ravens, their other three losses have been by a combined 11 points. Wonder what 4-3 will feel like to Mayfield should the Browns fail to get the job done Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
OFF THE RECORD: The Raiders placed OT Trent Brown on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday — and then sent the entire O-line home. … The NFL is prepared to move the Super Bowl back four weeks into March, if required by COVID-forced cancellations during the season, Packers CEO Mark Murphy told Sports Business Daily. …
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy spent two days answering questions about a report from the NFL Network's Jane Slater that two players on his 2-4 team have told her his staff is “totally unprepared” and “just aren't good at their jobs.”
As you would expect, McCarthy is disappointed those sentiments weren't dealt with internally, that the players didn't “handle things as men,” as he stressed at his first meeting with the team.
“The anonymous is something we don't want to recognize,” McCarthy said. “But it's important to recognize anything and everything for a teachable moment.”
In case you were wondering, the distinction of having the shortest coaching tenure in Cowboys history belongs to Chan Gailey (1998-99), who was fired after losing the wild-card game two years in a row.