Catching up with Ryan Fitzpatrick: Tua, coronavirus, Chan Gailey’s offense and more
Ryan Fitzpatrick not only wants to play football this fall, he wants to start.
But the Dolphins’ Ivy League-educated quarterback is smart enough to know that the NFL should return only if and when the medical professionals deem it safe.
“There’s so much uncertainty right now,” Fitzpatrick told Miami reporters Thursday from the office of his family home in Arizona. “So I think a lot of it for us as players, and kind of the approach or mentality that we have to take, is we’re going to trust the experts. Whatever they say, the guidelines that they set forth, we’ve got to trust them because we know they’re going to err on the side of caution.
“This thing, it changes every day. There’s new information. There’s different information. There’s shifts every single day. So it’s hard for us. So I think the approach that we’re taking is focus every day on what we can control. That’s our Zoom meetings and trying to do the best we can to learn this offense and communicate. And getting the workouts in on our own, trying to get ourselves in shape so whenever this thing starts back up, that we’re ready to go.”
The NFL is planning to begin its 2020 season, as scheduled, on Sept. 10. But like everything else in life since coronavirus became a global threat, that’s subject to change.
Already, players and coaches have been affected. Fitzpatrick and his Dolphins teammates would normally be in the middle of their offseason program, with OTAs and minicamp just around the corner.
Instead, he’s some 2,400 miles away, riding out the pandemic with his wife, his brother’s family and some 12 total kids.
Fitzpatrick said he’s hardly throwing, but that’s not out of the ordinary for this time of the year. He usually saves his arm in the offseason — which some point to as a reason for his longevity.
He has not trimmed his famous beard since the lockdown began — and probably won’t until he can see one of his two trusted barbers (who are located in Tampa and New Jersey).
Fitzpatrick’s days are spent hanging with his children and participating in the Dolphins’ Zoom meetings, during which he has relearned Chan Gailey’s offense and begun his mentorship of rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
▪ On Gailey, with whom Fitzpatrick spent five seasons in New York and Buffalo: “Chan was really the first guy that truly believed in me and gave me my shot as a starter. I’ve always wanted to prove him right and to play well for him. He’s a guy that allows players to play to their strengths. He’s got an offense that is not very complicated to learn but very complicated for defenses, in the way it’s presented to them. He does a great job of utilizing different guys’ talents, to put them in a position to succeed, and not necessarily telling them there is a certain way to do it. But allowing them some freedom and flexibility, within certain constraints, to do the best job that they can. I think guys have always enjoyed playing for him, for that reason. I’ve got a ton of confidence and trust in him. And I know he feels the same way about me.”
▪ On Tagovailoa, the Dolphins’ first of three first-round picks: “I’m as competitive as they come so I want to go out and start. I know there’s a lot of forces that go into it from all kinds of different sides so whether that happens or not who knows? But I know in order for our team to be successful, whoever is playing, that quarterback room has to be successful. Whether that’s me out there, doing everything I can to put the team in position to win or whether that’s Tua out there doing it. I’m going to do the best I can to help him to make sure our position is doing the things to make our team win. That’s my mentality. That’s how I think about it. You know me very well from last year, and you know I want to be out there competing on Sundays.”
Godchaux weighs in
Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux is eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring but said that’s not weighing on him. He’s due $2.1 million this season.
“I don’t look at it as a big year, contract year,” he said. “Every year is a big year because it’s the next year. Each game I take the same approach. That takes pressure off me. I don’t think fourth year,end of my contract, I have to have a big year. I want to elevate my play... If I take that approach, I think I’ll be good.”
▪ Godchaux said he’s “in the best shape I’ve been in four years of my NFL career,” partly because he has taken up bike riding this offseason at the urging of his neighbor. He said he’s typically doing 20 to 25 miles each day he rides, with a high of 38.6 miles.
He said his neighbor “came to me, knocked on my door, said, ‘Hey, Davon, you’re got to get a bike.’ I’m like, ‘I haven’t ridden a bike since middle school, elementary. A 300-pound guy riding a bike; I ain’t rode a bike in a minute.’ She talked me into going to the bike. The rest is history.”
Godchaux said a typical day will include arising by 7 a.m., working out with South Florida-based trainer Pete Bommarito (including a weightlifting session), then partaking in virtual meetings with the Dolphins and then the bike ride.
“I’m not the biggest fan of virtual, but it’s what we have to do right now with this pandemic going on,” he said.
▪ He expects a smooth transition in the defensive coordinator change from Patrick Graham (who left for the same job with the New York Giants) to former cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer.
“Josh played a big role last year,” Godchaux said. “He did a lot of things with P.G. I’m used to him having the voice of the room. Josh is going to be straight up with you. No sugarcoating. Players will feed off that.”
▪ Godchaux said one thing he likes about coach Brian Flores is he “is going to be consistent who he is. He’s going to expect great things out of you. They’re trying to keep us on our toes…. A lot of people don’t get that aspect of coach Flo. He will always try to create competition. Competition is what elevates your team to the next level.”
Miami Herald sports writer Barry Jackson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 1:53 PM.
