Training camp starts, and Dolphins’ QB battle picks up precisely where it left off

Back to football Thursday, and back to reality for the Dolphins’ intriguing battle at quarterback.

More specifically, for Josh Rosen.

He left for California as the Dolphins’ unofficial backup when spring ball broke seven weeks ago.

And he remained that way when he and teammate/rival Ryan Fitzpatrick returned this week for training camp.

Both on the depth chart, and in performance.

Fitzpatrick, working exclusively with the starting offense Thursday, reminded everyone why he remains the early favorite to start Week One against the Baltimore Ravens.

And Rosen, running with the twos, showed again that he has work to do.

Rosen’s first pass in team drills Thursday, the opening training camp practice of the Dolphins’ 54th season, was an easy one. And yet, he missed his target by a good 5 yards.

A short time later, rookie safety Montre Hartage baited him into a bad end-zone pass, resulting in the day’s lone interception.

“I thought I had a slow start,” Rosen conceded, “but finished pretty strong. I think it’s about getting used to everything — teammates, offense, situations and all of that. I think as long as tomorrow is better than today, I think we’ll be good.”

One thing that Rosen cannot do Friday, or any day, really: Make unforced errors like the botched exchange with running back Mark Walton, earning both a trip to the TNT (Takes No Talent) wall — the Dolphins’ very public run of shame.

If the Dolphins have any hope of competing at a high level this fall, those kind of mental mistakes cannot happen.

And the players who commit the most, first-year coach Brian Flores all but promised Thursday, will play the least.

“First and foremost, our fundamentals, technique, from a footwork standpoint, from an accuracy standpoint, from an in-and-out-of-the-huddle standpoint, from a communication standpoint,” Flores said of the quarterback competition. “It’s Day 1. They’re not going to be in midseason form today. No one in the league is going to be in midseason form. This is about building. That’s what it boils down to. I want to see these guys build today or really work today and build on that day after day after day and string those practices together.”

Rosen did indeed improve as the morning progressed, and his marvelous touchdown pass to Nick O’Leary in team drills was probably the day’s highlight.

But on balance, Fitzpatrick had the better practice.

He went on a touchdown tear, throwing two to Kenny Stills and another to Kalen Ballage.

“I’m just trying to be the best version of me that I can be,” Fitzpatrick said. “That really is it. There are so many things that I’ve just continued to get better at in my game. Knowing who I am as a player and working on my deficiencies, communication is something I try to pride myself on. Just the communication with the guys and making sure we’re on the same page.

“We had a couple of lapses today that hopefully will get cleaned up and then you move forward,” he added. “Especially down in the red area, you only have so many chances. So you have to take advantage of all of them, and you have to be on the same page with your guys.”

Fitzpatrick is in a strange spot, particularly now that quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell is on a medical leave of absence. He’s not only competing against Rosen, but also trying to be a good teammate.

“There’s a lot of stuff that we’ll discuss in that room and some of it is me and my experience and maybe, as a quarterback, you develop scars, bad plays, things that you want to try to avoid,” Fitzpatrick said. “A lot of what I do is just offer information, and if people want to take the information and go with it, they can.”

Rosen is building that scar tissue, too. He had a rough rookie season in Arizona, and now is going through some growing pains in Miami. But all the former first-round pick can control right now is his effort, focus and attitude. He relaxed some this summer. But he also dug deep into the playbook and threw with a few teammates, including Stills, in Southern California.

“It’s not about taking a massive step forward,” Rosen said. “It’s just about continuing to grow and continuing to make positive progress. I think that any kind of setback is worse than any progress you can gain. I’m just trying to stay consistent. I’m just trying to get better and master this offense and get more and more comfortable behind center.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 5:39 PM.