Brian Flores keeps QB door open at first rookie minicamp

Josh Rosen isn’t on the field yet.

Neither is Ryan Fitzpatrick.

That will happen Monday, for the first official day of OTAs, when two quarterbacks 15 years apart compete for a job that should go to Rosen, unless he’s awful.

Still, new coach Brian Flores — in typical Patriots style — isn’t giving anything away yet.

Asked prior to the first day of rookie minicamp whether Fitzpatrick would get a fair shot to start, Flores indicated the journeyman — last of Tampa Bay — would.

Brian Flores says if Ryan Fitzpatrick wins the starting QB job, so be it. pic.twitter.com/vo5kaMfOq1

— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) May 10, 2019

Flores doesn’t say a whole lot — he likes first round pick Christian Wilkins’s energy, for instance — but he did have a really good sound bite at the very end.

One of Adam Gase’s issues was that he knew everything, and that wore on players and media. He could not be questioned. If something went wrong, there was some silly excuse. Finally, the Dolphins front office got as tired of that as the players did.

Flores seems to take a different approach.

Here’s an example:

Good quote from Brian Flores: “I want my players to want to know the why. That’s coaching. I challenge my players to ask why.”

— Five Reasons Sports Network (@5ReasonsSports) May 10, 2019

He added that if players aren’t asking why the Dolphins are doing something, that means they are disengaged, and that’s not what he wants.

It may take some time for the Dolphins to be competitive, but the mindset appears to be better — at least at the start.