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What the decision to start Fitzpatrick could mean for Rosen
Dolphins coach Brian Flores said veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick
Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to get the starting nod over Josh Rosen in the preseason opener, coach Brian Flores said Tuesday.
But Flores has not ruled out the possibility that Rosen will play with the first-team offense, when the Dolphins host the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I see Fitz going with [starters] like we have during training camp, but that could change,” Flores said.
“The way I see it right now — [Fitzpatrick] has done a good job. Josh has done a good job. The preseason games will tell us another part of the evaluation. It’s a good competition.”
Fitzpatrick has been the clearcut leader for the starting job through much of training camp.
The 37-year-old Fitzpatrick, entering his 15th NFL season, has experience and knowledge of working in several systems that has helped him grasp the new Dolphins offense better than Rosen.
However, Rosen has narrowed the gap with three consecutive strong performances in practice.
He has shown improvement in several areas, including doing a better job of examining the defense, commanding the offense, finding open receivers in stride and making effective throws downfield.
Rosen had his best practice with the Dolphins during their game-like scrimmage on Saturday, throwing a deep pass to Kenny Stills and a touchdown to Isaiah Ford — despite standout cornerback Xavien Howard nearly intercepting both passes.
Outside of that scrimmage, Rosen has sparingly seen action with the first team during training camp. But that could change as the preseason progresses before the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 8.
“I think the big thing for everyone on this team is to try to improve on a daily basis and Josh has taken to that, along with a lot
of players on this team,” Flores said. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement from a lot of guys. He’s one of them but he still has a long way to go. By no means are we anointing him or crowning him.
“I think he has strung a couple of good days together. We still have the preseason games ahead of us. We still have a lot of practices ahead of us. Hopefully, it continues on this trajectory and that’s the case for not only him, but everyone on this team.”
Typically, teams will play their entire firstteam offense for a series or two during the first quarter of preseason games.
Flores did not say or speculate how much he expects Fitzpatrick or Rosen to play during Thursday night’s game.
“Everyone has got to be ready to play for an extended period of time,” Flores said. “We’ll see how the game goes. We have a plan for some players, but I would tell these guys that everyone has to be ready to play for an extended period of time.
“I think they all know it could be three plays, it could be 30 plays, it could be 50 plays. We’ll see how the game goes.”