Tagovailoa has chance to seize the moment with Fitz out
Brian Flores announced what everyone hopes is the final cruel joke of 2020 only hours before the year ended. On a ZOOM meeting that replaced an actual team meeting — another 2020 phenomenon — theDolphins coach told his players that backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had tested positive for COVID-19.
And that would mean Fitzpatrick wouldn’t practice Thursday. Wouldn’t practice Friday. Wouldn’t travel with the Dolphins to their regular-season-finale at Buffalo.
And, quite obviously, wouldn’t be available to play in that game. Horrible, right?
Of course it is because Fitzpatrick is salt-of-the-earth people, and this terrible disease has drawn no distinction about whom it attacks — good people, not-so-good people, the weak and aged, even the young and athletic, like an NFL quarterback.
So the hope is there’s a speedy recovery and a slew of negative test results for Fitzpatrick in the very near future. The hope is his wife and seven children, who might have been in close contact with him, will be untouched by this disease.
And the hope is Fitzpatrick is the last of the dozen or so Dolphins players and coaches who tested positive and battled COVID-19 in 2020.
And now for the football because that’s generally why you come here:
This singular test result has significance that multiplies almost as much as the disease itself.
The most obvious issue is it means the Dolphins won’t be without the security blanket for the entire offense on Sunday.
That’s what Fitzpatrick has been since the offseason.
The Dolphins drafted Tua Tagovailoa to be their franchise quarterback. But in training camp it was Fitzpatrick who was the team’s first-stringer and leader.
Tagovailoa made good progress during camp and that was encouraging. But it was more encouraging that Flores could turn to a veteran — Fitzpatrick — to try to give the Dolphins a fast start when the season dawned.
And, lately, after Tagovailoa took his rightful spot as Miami’s starting quarterback, it was Fitzpatrick who came to the rescue in both Denver and Las Vegas when the rookie was ineffective.
So, no, the Dolphins won’t have their security blanket Sunday.
Working under the assumption he has not tested positive or been deemed a close contact to Fitzpatrick, Tagovailoa is the man now.
The Dolphins are his team and no one will be looking for anyone else during the fourth quarter of this looming game.
Tagovailoa’s going on that stage in Buffalo without a net under him. It’s going to be make it from start to finish or crash trying.
This presents fans and, more importantly, the Dolphins with a choice.
They can feel that palpable dread of not having a fallback option. They can feel that fate is against them. They can feel that adversity has cozied up to them and the lack of distance is uncomfortable and wrong and unfair.
Or they can feel emboldened by the opportunity. They can feel confident that this is merely another obstacle in a year they’ve encountered and overcome multiple obstacles.
And I know what some of you are thinking. Because the thought briefly crossed my mind, also.
There go Miami’s chances of beating the Bills and making the playoffs.
But think a little longer. Consider this situation a little deeper.
This terrible calamity that has befallen the Dolphins days before their big game begs for perspective. And the perspective is the Dolphins will be without their backup quarterback against the Bills.
Read that sentence again.
The backup quarterback is out.
The starting quarterback is believed to be fine.
Get it?
Any NFL team that sees losing its backup quarterback as some insurmountable problem is a very weak team. Any team hoping to get into the playoffs and failing because the backup quarterback didn’t play shouldn’t have been thinking of getting into the playoffs in the first place.
This is quite the opposite of insurmountable, people.
The Dolphins played a game without any of their starting receivers or their starting tight end two weeks ago. And they won.
The Dolphins played a game without their starting left guard, lost the replacement left guard to injury and finished with the thirdstring left guard. And won.
The Dolphins played a game without their starting quarterback this year. And even though Tagovailoa’s thumb kept him out against the New York Jets, the Dolphins won.
And now missing the backup quarterback is a huge problem?
Not in the NFL.
I will say this: The amount of social media teeth-gnashing and handwringing over Fitzpatrick missing this game and Miami needing to rely on Tagovailoa says something significant.
It says a large swath of Dolphins fans don’t trust Tagovailoa to finish what he starts. Obviously, Flores didn’t when he benched the rookie in the fourth quarter of two games, including last week.
So this game against the Bills could be as much opportunity as a challenge for Tagovailoa.
Because he’ll have a chance to build everyone’s confidence, including that of his head coach, if he performs well. He’ll be free of that uncertainty that he’s not ready for this responsibility or this stage.
Tagovailoa considers Fitzpatrick as something of a father figure and that’s momentous because he greatly adores and respects his real father.
But I’m here to tell you that Tagovailoa’s father figure missing this game, terrible as it is from a health standpoint for Fitzpatrick, could be a blessing in disguise for Tagovailoa. Challenge? Yes.
But grand opportunity? Definitely.