Time for Dolphins young quarterbacks to shine in Fitzpatrick’s absence

Before Dolphins players hit the field earlier today, Coach Flores addressed the media. And he dropped a bombshell that Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kavon Frazier would miss today’s practice.

The reason per Flores was ‘personal’ with no time-frame expected.

Coach Flores did have the perfect response when asked if it was going to be long-term with Miami’s starting QB.

“When you’re dealing with personal matters, it’s case by case. I think we’ve all dealt with personal things. I’m sure you have; I have. I’m going to support my players and however much time they need with specific situations, that’s what they’re going to get. I think we all should have an understanding from that standpoint and quite honestly … when we’re talking about things of that nature, some things take precedent and I’m going to respect that.”

Many are speculating Fitz could be out for a significant period of time, given the team’s recent workout of veteran QB Jake Rudock. But no one truly knows and it’s all speculation, for now.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Fitzpatrick. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen this offseason–the show must go on.

With Fitzpatrick out, this would open the door for rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa to take the reigns.

But as we learned over the first few days of camp, Josh Rosen wasn’t going to go down without a fight. If Miami’s 37-year old QB is out a significant amount of time, the team would then have to turn to 23-year old Josh Rosen or 22-year old Tua Tagovailoa. Both players have a lot to learn in Chan Gailey’s offense.

According to Safid Deen of the Sun-Sentinel, both QBs had an up-and-down performance.

Hope Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t gone for too long.

Today’s QB stats in 11-on-11:

ROSEN 6 of 14, 104 yards, 1 TD, INT, sacked three times.

TUA 6 of 15, 99 yards, 0 TDs, two INT, one near INT, sack.

— Safid Deen 💯💯💯💯 (@Safid_Deen) August 21, 2020

Before anyone jumps, take a few steps back from the ledge because no, the sky is not falling.

It should go without saying that two young quarterbacks can improve their game. Hell, most of the veterans could as well. But it’s clear as day just how important Fitzpatrick is to this team–especially this season.

To play devil’s advocate, what if Fitz isn’t back in a timely fashion?

What if the show must go on with Tua Tagovailoa or Josh Rosen. Two quarterbacks drafted in the top-10 of the NFL draft over the last few seasons. What then?

In the perfect world, Miami’s situation would shape up a lot like the situation in San Diego many years ago. The Chargers drafted Phillip Rivers and it pushed Drew Brees to become a very good NFL QB. If Rosen becomes a viable option, his trade value could skyrocket. But let’s face it–Josh Rosen? Tua Tagovailoa? As long as the Dolphins are winning football games, that’s what fans truly care about.

Struggling in practice isn’t ideal. But one thing I refuse to do is worry that Tua hasn’t already proven to be the savior many of us have hoped.

Peyton Manning struggled his entire rookie season. Mahomes didn’t see the field until the final week of the season.

There are 23 days between now and the Dolphins first regular-season game. If Fitzpatrick is away from the team for an extended period of time, it could be the Tua Tagovailoa era sooner rather than later. That is only if he can supplant the 2018 first-round pick.

Any other season, I might be a little worried. But in an unprecedented offseason where most of the offense was taught via Zoom, I’m not worried.

Next week I will take a look at the Tale of the Tape between Josh Rosen and Tua Tagovailoa.