With Fitzpatrick out, offense struggles. And notes, highlights from Dolphins’ scrimmage
News, notes and highlights from the Miami Dolphins’ scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday:
▪ The Dolphins played without quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who left the stadium before the scrimmage began after learning of the death of his mother.
Brian Flores had his arm wrapped around Fitzpatrick as the quarterback left the field. Fitzpatrick did not return.
The team then took a knee before the scrimmage began.
Flores said Fitzpatrick is not retiring and is not opting out of playing this season. The coach said Fitzpatrick will take as much time as he needs and there is no “quarterback controversy” about who’s starting.
“We will give him as much time as he needs to grieve,” Flores said. “My thought is he will try to get back as soon as he can.”
Asked if Fitzpatrick might miss the Sept. 13 opener at New England, Flores said it’s “hard to say.”
“He tried to go out there today,” Flores said. “I have gone through multiple conversations with him. He’s a competitive guy, tried to go out there but some things are more important than football.”
Flores, whose mother died last year, said: “I went through this a year ago. My mom is about the same age [as Fitzpatrick’s mother]. I’m a former athlete. He’s an athlete. We’re both competitive guys, leaders and want to be strong. But there are moments we can’t. I just tried to support him. That was essentially my message to him.”
▪ Fitzpatrick’s departure left the Dolphin with Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Rosen taking all the snaps, and it did not go well.
It took until Miami’s 14th offensive possession - 14th! - for a touchdown to be scored. That TD was a Rosen pass to Ricardo Louis. And that was the only TD in 15 possessions.
The Dolphins’ 10 offensive possessions of the first half did not produce a single touchdown. Miami mustered three field goals on those 10 first-half possessions, with Tagovailoa the quarterback on two of those drives and Rosen on the other.
In the second half, Tagovailoa’s possessions resulted in no points, and Rosen’s led to one touchdown.
So their final numbers in the points-production category: Rosen generated a touchdown and field goal, and Tagovailoa two field goals.
Their final numbers overall: Rosen: 11 for 24 for 143 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Tagovailoa: 13 for 23 for 119 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
Rosen and Tagovailoa shared the 15th and final possession, which went nowhere. Tagovailoa started that 15th possession, but coaches then made several substitutions during that drive, with Rosen replacing Tagovailoa, who said he had hoped to finish that drive.
Tagovailoa started ahead of Rosen and guided a first drive that resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Jason Sanders. Tagovailoa was 2 for 4 for 25 yards on the drive.
The Alabama rookie quarterback also guided the Dolphins on a mini-march that ended with a 57-yard field goal by Sanders.
But Tagovailoa later threw a first-half interception to safety Eric Rowe - on a pass intended for Mike Gesicki - and accomplished little in the second half.
▪ Rosen, whose involvement in team drills diminished in recent days, got a lot of work on Saturday and struggled early before coming on late.
His first two passes should have resulted in interceptions, and he later threw an interception to Clayton Fejedelem.
Rosen did lead one first-half scoring drive that ended with a 41-yard field goal by Jason Sanders. That drive was aided heavily by a pass interference call against Breon Borders.
And Rosen came alive in the second half. He completed a pass to Malcolm Perry for a 50-plus yard gain, though it didn’t go for a touchdown. Then he completed the TD pass to Louis; the pass went over the head of cornerback Nik Needham, who almost intercepted it.
What’s clear is that neither Tagovailoa nor Rosen has put a strangehold on the backup quarterback spot. Flores said after the scrimmage that the No. 2 quarterback is undetermined.
Tagovailoa has been given every opportunity to beat out Rosen for the No. 2 job, and the rookie seemed to have had the better camp entering Saturday. But Rosen deserves credit for his second-half work Saturday, and the job remains open.
It appears in the Dolphins’ best interests to keep three quarterbacks for several reasons, including the possibility that teams could lose a quarterback for a couple of games because of COVID-19.
▪ We aren’t permitted to identify what player is working on the first team and second team.
What we can tell you is that Robert Hunt had impressed the coaching staff earlier this week to the point that he put himself very much in the mix for a major role, which hadn’t seemed the case early in camp.
But Hunt’s chances took a hit on Saturday.
Hunt was consistently destroyed by defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who had at least one sack.
The Dolphins entered this camp logically needing to choose between two rookies - second-rounder Hunt and fourth-rounder Solomon Kindley - for a starting job with presumptive starter Jesse Davis, who can play right tackle or right guard.
That decision appears to still be pending, but Kindley has looked better of the two rookie guards. (Hunt also can play tackle.)
Though Hunt was considered the better prospect by many, Kindley might be more NFL ready, having played in the nation’s toughest conference at Georgia. Hunt has been trying to make the transition from Louisiana-Lafayette; he graded out well in a game against Alabama but this NFL competition is infinitely better than what he faced in the Sun Belt.
What we can tell you is that Davis, Kindley and Hunt are all getting a fair shot.
▪ Cornerback Xavien Howard, who came off the COVID-19 and PUP lists on Thursday, participated in the scrimmage. But linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who has been nursing a hand injury, did not participate. Receiver DeVante Parker did not participate in the scrimmage but doesn’t have a serious injury, per an associate.
▪ In another injury note, running back Jordan Howard limped off after slipping while taking a handoff and was checked out by trainers on the sideline. But Howard then returned to the scrimmage.
Howard and Matt Breida are expected to be 1 and 1A in some order at running back.
▪ Perry went to the locker-room during the scrimmage with an undisclosed injury but then returned in the second half and caught the long pass from Rosen.
▪ Linebacker Elandon Roberts, who has a decent chance to win a starting job, committed a pass interference penalty. The Dolphins love Roberts, which is one big reason they traded Raekwon McMillan to Las Vegas on Saturday.
Also, cornerback Nik Needham was whistled for a pass interference, bailing out Rosen on one throw.
▪ Though Sanders had a good day, he missed from 61 yards on the last play of the first half.
This story was originally published August 29, 2020 at 11:43 AM.
