Ryan Fitzpatrick serving multiple Dolphins’ goals while Josh Rosen remains an afterthought
Let’s begin with the most important fallout from this loss: The Miami Dolphins are not buying Josh Rosen right now.
Not at all.
The team was down 28-0 to the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon and Miami’s offense had gained all of 44 yards. Starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had thrown the first of his two interceptions and amid that crisis coach Brian Flores gave no thought to the idea of replacing Fitzpatrick with Rosen.
“Nope,” Flores said. “I didn’t. I felt like we had a good drive at the end of the half. We came out and put some points on the board in the third quarter. We just needed one, two more stops and we didn’t get them.
“But no, I didn’t.”
That says multiple things we should all understand about Rosen and Fitzpatrick. It says the Dolphins already believe they have a good read on what Rosen is and is not -- based on his offseason and training camp work, his couple of starts, and the practices the team has authored in private since the regular-season began.
And that read, while not articulated for public scrutiny, is obviously that Rosen isn’t the guy.
He’s not good enough to start. He’s not good enough to even think about bringing in off the bench. He’s not “it,” based on how the Dolphins are proceeding with him.
(By the way, that doesn’t mean he really isn’t it because Rosen hasn’t been in a game since mid-October to prove the point one way or another. It merely shows the Dolphins don’t believe he’s it right now.)
Flores isn’t ready to wave the white flag on this season yet and until he is -- which could take at least another week -- he’s apparently sticking with Fitzpatrick over Rosen.
So do you want to know the amazing plot twist to all this? Here it is: Even as the team is sticking with Fitzpatrick because coaches believe he’s better than Rosen, Fitzpatrick is playing just well enough to make the offense barely functional.
And that is serving everyone’s purposes.
Fitzpatrick’s not good enough but is still better than Rosen, and absolutely good enough for the organization’s future designs.
Because Fitzpatrick is doing enough to make games competitive while not, you know, actually winning them.
Fitzpatrick is 2-6 as Miami’s starter. He’s thrown 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions -- including two of each against the Browns Sunday. Despite these unremarkable statistics, Fitzpatrick’s inspirational. And cool. And the right guy to make a bad team not seem dysfunctional.
So, of course Flores wasn’t thinking about benching him on Sunday. Or after any of the more recent outings the Dolphins have lost.
Because the Dolphins are accomplishing their ultimate goal of driving toward picking their future quarterback in next April’s draft with a representative quarterback in 2019. It’s perfect.
And, yes, the drive toward that future has had setbacks in the injury to Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and the recent poor play by Oregon’s Justin Herbert. But the Dolphins still see themselves in good position to pick a quarterback in the first round next year.
The fact the Washington Redskins won Sunday, which helped the Dolphins move from the fourth projected overall pick in 2020’s draft to No. 3, also helped.
And, meanwhile, the Dolphins lost to the Browns, 41-24. That early offensive inability from which Fitzpatrick was insulated by Flores and the defense’s copious holes, especially in the secondary, were the recipe for Miami’s second consecutive 17-point loss.
Afterward, Fitzpatrick and reporters shared a few warm minutes discussing why the veteran quarterback continues to expose himself to a no-win situation.
“Everybody’s why is different and you have to figure out, especially in trying times, you have to figure out your why as a football player,” Fitzpatrick told a captivated group of scribes.
Fitzpatrick said he loves playing and is enjoying “the ride,” but added his overarching reason for his approach is back home in Tampa. His two sons watch dad play every week. And dad is trying to give them an example they can carry the rest of their lives.
“I’ve got two boys at home that watch everything that I do,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s a big one for me. And, again, the passion and love for the game and just the love of being out there. The love of going out there and seeing my team succeed. That’s a few of mine.
“I just want them to enjoy watching me play. I don’t tell them anything about things I do. Who I am on that football field, I want that to rub off a little bit.
“They’re upset when we lose and mad at me and whatever else ... I want to show them, every single play, whether we’re up by 28 or down by 28, I’m going to give everything I have and continue to try to put the team in the best position to win. And I’m hoping that rubs off on them a little bit whether it’s football or life.”
This is moving stuff. And Fitzpatrick’s sentiments are how strength of character gets passed from one generation in a family to the next.
But this is where we break from sentimentality and think about the reality of the Dolphins’ situation, which is Ryan Fitzpatrick remains the Dolphins best answer at quarterback in the coaching staff’s eyes despite Rosen’s presence.
And so far that is working for the short term approach of trying to win. And the long term approach of not actually winning.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 7:05 PM.
