Ryan Fitzpatrick ‘myopic’ about the inevitable day when Tua Tagovailoa replaces him
Tua Time has not arrived this week.
But it might next. Or the week after that.
Maybe it’s after the bye around Thanksgiving.
Or perhaps Tua Tagovailoa won’t play until December.
But short of the Dolphins getting super hot and making a playoff run, the Dolphins will almost certainly want to see what Tagovailoa can do in a game.
And when that happens, much of the fan base will celebrate.
Those charged up supporters should, however, remember that the flip side of Tagovailoa’s benching will be Ryan Fitzpatrick demotion.
And one of the locker room’s most popular players will of course be disappointed — even if not to the degree he was last year, when Brian Flores benched Fitzpatrick for Josh Rosen after two games (only to go back to Fitz after it was obvious Rosen wasn’t good).
“I mean this has been my career,” Fitzpatrick said Wednesday. “I guess if anybody is used to being in this situation, it would be me. I focus on the everyday. That’s it. I really do. I put everything I can into each game and you try to forget the last game, if it’s a good one or bad one, and try to work on the next one. I get it. And obviously, I’ve been in a lot of different cities and a lot of different scenarios and this scenario has been one in a lot of different places for me. I try to be very myopic and go about my business that way.”
When asked if he thinks he will react differently to the switch than he did in 2019, when he couldn’t his his unhappiness with his demotion, Fitzpatrick responded:
“I don’t want to do the hypothetical thing,” he said. “I think last year was last year and that was definitely a much different situation in who was in the room and who is in the room this year. I’ll just stick with my line, which is I’m going to do my best for this week and hopefully continue to lead this team. Whenever that day comes, we’ll cross that bridge.”
Fitzpatrick is right. Rosen wasn’t good in training camp and then later in games, and yet Flores put him in the game.
And Tagovailoa, by Flores’ candid assessment Wednesday, is not “ready [to start] just yet.”
Does the locker room agree? Hard to tell, considering all interviews are done remotely and very publicly in the age of coronavirus.
“When we made Fitz the starter in Week 1, obviously you’re expecting him to be the starter throughout the entire season,” tight end Mike Gesicki said. “So I am happy to have him back there and you’ve just got to keep rolling.”
Added Dolphins tackle Jesse Davis, a team captain: “Tua is a superstar athlete. Everybody’s seen all his [college] highlights. That’s what he brings to the table.”
And that’s the difference.
Rosen (acquired with a second-round pick) was a value play by Chris Grier. If it worked out, great. If not, they had a treasure trove of draft picks to find someone else.
But Tagovailoa is the franchise’s future, called by predraft throwing coach Trent Dilfer “the single best prospect I have ever been around, I have ever studied.”
And the Dolphins thought Dilfer was on to something, taking him fifth overall in April. Even Fitzpatrick acknowledged earlier this year that he’s just a placeholder.
And yet, Fitzpatrick says there’s been no friction in the team’s quarterback meeting room — which is exactly what the Dolphins anticipated when they decided to bring him back for a second season.
“He’s just a very positive guy in general,” Fitzpatrick said of Tagovailoa, who has not been made available to reporters since late August. “A guy that doesn’t seem like he’s ever had a bad day. Every week in the NFL is so extreme. You either won and you’re on your way to the Super Bowl or you lost and the sky is falling, and everybody needs to be fired or benched. It’s just staying level and keeping that good vibes, those good feelings is tough to do when you lose, but it’s important to have in the building.
“I would say with him, that’s kinda his personality. Every day he kinda comes in and has a smile on his face. In times like this where you’ve lost a few and the outside world thinks the sky is falling, its nice to have those guys walking through the locker room upbeat with a smile on their face.”
