Right decision made wrong way
Well, that was clumsy, wasn’t it? The Miami Dolphins just made the most important decision of their season and look what happened: The coach apologized, the ex-quarterback showed his broken heart and the new quarterback said even his parents, who were so proud to see their son back playing football Sunday, were surprised he was now the starting quarterback.
“After two throws they want to put you in?” Tua Tagovailoa’s father, Galu, joked with his son. And the larger team?
“It’s wondering, ‘Why now? ’” a team source said.
All this shouldn’t trample the fact the Dolphins made the right organizational decision in handing Tagovailoa the keys to the franchise. That’s the big news, of course. The rookie has an off week to prepare for his first start. As importantly, everyone has time to digest how it happened.
Because, again, the biggest decision of this season came off clunky, didn’t it?
First, the news broke from ESPN’s Adam Schefter before coach Brian Flores could address
the team. That’s never good, as Flores knew in apologizing for that happening.
Players shouldn’t learn something this important off Twitter or the television ticker rather than from the coach.
Their general reaction was your reaction. It was Fitzpatrick’s reaction. It was Tua’s parents’ reaction. In a word: huh?
This matters too because Flores’ top job now is leading his team through the opening swings of Tagovailoa’s time. That will prove easy if the Dolphins win or Tagovailoa plays in the manner his talent suggests.
So no, it’s not only about winning this next game. Dan Marino lost his first game as a rookie starter way back when to Buffalo in overtime, 38-35.
Don Shula was still smiling. Shula knew he had a talent to win seven of the next eight games, which Marino then did.
So the direct challenge is the next two opponents.
The Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals aren’t exactly Tua-friendly ones. Each is 4-2 in the toughest division in football and ranks in the top five defensively in points allowed. The Rams also have the league’s best defensive lineman in Aaron Donald to threaten the start (and, ahem, health) of Tua.
All that in itself was unavoidable in some form. Whomever Tua started against would present issues. But the issues seem accentuated because of the odd manner in which this decision came.
Two weeks ago Flores was adamant that Tua playing wasn’t on the table.
“He’s not ready,’’ from a health or football standpoint was his idea. Flores coached that way too.
Blowout losses against San Francisco and the New York Jets would have been prime opportunities to play Tua more than a five-play cameo to run out the clock in the Jets game. Or so you would think if, again, this decision was around the corner.
Flores said the decision was based off “what we’ve seen in practice and what we’ve seen in meetings and walk-throughs.” He also said “things have been good in practice, but again practice is very different than games.”
The starting quarterback is always the head coach’s decision to make. Always. It’s hard to see Flores, a Type A personality, deferring on this or even making it a committee decision. But that was his suggestion.
He oddly framed it beyond just him. He mentioned his staff, general manager Chris Grier, the personnel department. Everyone was involved, he said.
“We just felt like it was the best move for the team right now,’’ Flores said. “That’s how we’re going to move forward.”
“We” was the operative idea. That too was different. All of it put Fitzpatrick in pain.
The lack of pretense that made Fitzpatrick such a perfect quarterback for the Dolphins of late was another piece of the aftermath. His pain matters because he’s the most popular player in the locker room.
“My heart just hurt all day,’’ he said. “It was heartbreaking for me.”
Maybe none of this matters. Maybe it turns irrelevant. Justin Herbert, drafted one spot after Tua, became the Los Angeles Chargers’ emergency starter against the NFL’s best team, Kansas City, on the day of the game and did great.
If Tua does the same, if he plays his talented game, all this will drift away like smoke in the air. The important part is the Dolphins are on to the future, as they should be.
But a decision to celebrate felt clumsy and clunky for the manner it came.