TOUGH DAY FOR DOLPHINS QBS
With starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick leaving the Dolphins to grieve his mother’s passing, young QBs Tua Tagovaiola and Josh Rosen struggle during Miami’s scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium.
Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is out indefinitely, grieving the death of his mother. His replacements, Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Rosen, combined to throw two interceptions in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will be away from the team for an undetermined length of time as he grieves the Saturday morning death of his mother.
If Saturday’s scrimmage is any indication, the Dolphins could be in trouble for the opener if Fitzpatrick’s leave of absence lasts more than a week.
The season opener is Sept. 13 in New England. Game installation could begin this week.
But who would start in his place? Hard to say, as for the second time this month, Tua Tagovailoa, Josh Rosen and the Dolphins’ offense sagged without their leader.
Tagovailoa, the No. 5 pick in the draft and future of the franchise, later told reporters what they saw with his own eyes — that he worked with the first team in Fitzpatrick’s absence and wasn’t
great.
Rosen, meanwhile, ran with the backups and wasn’t any better.
The final results: 15 offensive drives, 16 points and little rhythm. Tagovailoa and Rosen each threw an interception that counted, and several more that were either dropped or negated by defensive penalty.
Unofficially, Rosen went 11 of 24 for 143 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Tagovailoa was 13 of 23 for 119 yards and a pick.
“There was some good today, there was also some not so good,” Tagovailoa said. “I think it was a learning curve for me and a lot of the rookies. There’s some things we need to clean up offensively, on my end, and things in general with communication.”
Added Rosen: “It was definitely a sloppy day on offense overall. I carried a good amount of the burden with that. I was a little slow calling plays. I think I was just a little bit slow overall. Tried to get everyone on the same page a little quicker in the second half. Near the end of it I think we put a really good drive together. I think we have a lot to learn from now. I think we’ll watch and get better.”
Flores told reporters about Fitzpatrick’s mother’s passing immediately after the practice, and insisted that the 37-year-old quarterback is neither retiring nor opting out.
When asked how long Fitzpatrick’s bereavement leave might last, Flores responded: “He’s going to take as much time as he needs, and I think me, as an organization, we’re going to give him this time to grieve, and my thought on this is he’s going to try to get back as quickly as he can because that’s the competitive nature in him. And like a lot of us, football is our sanctuary, and it’s our place to get away from the tough times, the pain, the anguish in our lives. I know he’ll probably try to get back as soon as he can, but we’re going to give him as much time as he wants or needs.”
Flores informed his team that Fitzpatrick’s mother had died less than a halfhour before the scrimmage began. The Dolphins’ presumptive Week 1 starter had missed one day of practice for undisclosed personal reasons — possibly to be with his ailing mother — and the offense sputtered.
On Saturday, Fitzpatrick was in full uniform and warmed up as though he had expected to participate at Hard Rock Stadium, then ultimately left the field and walked to the locker room with Flores’ arm over Fitzpatrick’s shoulder.
Fitzpatrick disappeared into the bowels of Hard Rock Stadium and did not return.
It’s unclear if Flores informed Fitzpatrick of his mother’s passing or if Fitzpatrick already knew, tried to play and decided he could not.
Either way, Tagovailoa was not expecting to work with the ones until right up until the start of the practice game.
He did OK on that first drive — throwing an excellent slant to Isaiah Ford and putting the Dolphins in field-goal range. But Chan Gailey elected to run three consecutive times, and the drive stalled at the defense’s 30-yard line.
That was Tagovailoa’s best possession of the morning. The only two times the offense scored on Tagovailoa, the drives ended in Jason Sanders field goals — the first from 47 yards, the second from 57.
His second half was even more unimpressive and included an interception by Eric Rowe. Tagovailoa rarely threw the ball beyond 15 yards, although one of his better attempts was dropped by Preston Williams. (DeVante Parker did not play.)
Rosen had a chance to distinguish himself. He did not. Rosen’s first two passes should have been picks. And later, his luck ran out, with Clayton Fejedelem responsible for Rosen’s lone interception.
Rosen did have one impressive drive however, connecting with Malcolm Perry on a 50-yard go-route off a broken play and improvising to find Ricardo Louis for a touchdown, beating Nik Needham.
But that was the extent of the good.
The Dolphins’ 15 offensive drives ended with one touchdown, four field-goal attempts, two interceptions, seven punts and one end of half.
So neither of the Dolphins’ QB Plan B’s looked ready to start Week 1 — which while unlikely, considering there’s still 14 days remaining until the opener, cannot be ruled out.
“It would be awesome,” Rosen said of potentially getting the nod, should Fitzpatrick be unavailable. “I’d be ecstatic. It’s 2020. Anything can happen. Quarterbacks can get sick. Coaches, coordinators go down. Who knows? I’m going to stay ready. I hope I can one day play here, and I’m ready to seize my opportunity, but I’m not really focusing on that all that much right now. I’m just trying to not throw picks in a scrimmage.”