Ryan Fitzpatrick ‘excited’ about Tua Tagovailoa addition but still wants to start ahead of rookie
.JPG "Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick speaks to the media following an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)")
Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is participating in the team’s video meetings and virtual offseason conditioning program from his home in Arizona these days, but he is very much aware what the situation is with his team back in South Florida.
Talking with former Buffalo Bills teammate Eric Woods on his “What’s Next podcast, “Fitzpatrick is aware at 37 years old he’s he’s the only player older than 30 on Miami’s roster. He knows he’s reuniting with his former head coach in Buffalo and offensive coordinator with the New York Jets in Chan Gailey, because the Dolphins hired Gailey as their new offensive coordinator.
And, yes, he’s fully aware Tua Tagovailoa was drafted with the fifth overall selection in the first round of the NFL draft in April.
“I’m really excited. I’m excited that they drafted him,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m excited because in watching him play at Alabama, he looks like a pretty dynamic talent.
“Just in meeting him a few times he seems like an unbelievable kid, great head on his shoulders, says the right things, wants to do the right things. So, like for me, I’m his biggest cheerleader right now.”
Yes, but ...
“But I also want to be out there playing,” Fitzpatrick quickly added. “I also want to be on the field. And that’s why I’m still doing it, because I still enjoy playing the game.
“Hopefully some of the lessons I’m able to teach him are from him watching me play. But if it’s the other way around, I’m going to do my best to help him succeed in the best way he can.”
Fitzpatrick has a definite approach to conducting himself and has definite beliefs how young quarterbacks he mentors should approach that assignment.
“I think part of it is they have to take a back seat and have to watch,” he said. “They have to watch how I operate. Not to say that what I do is perfect, but there are going to be a lot of things they can pull from me that they like. And there are going to be some things they can pull from me that they don’t like and say, ‘I don’t want that.’
“But I think I have enough qualities that Miami has seen that they like and would like another quarterback to have in them.”
And after the young guy watches, Fitzpatrick suggests he ask questions. That’s the advice he gave young Josh Rosen last year and the advice he will give Tagovailoa this year. Ask!
“The other thing in bringing in a new guy is that I always try and impress right away on these guys is I am here,” Fitzpatrick said. “Again, zero ego, I have so much knowledge. I’ve made so many mistakes in this league in terms of dumb decisions and throws. I’ve learned how to prepare, I’ve learned so much about offenses and defenses and the way guys operate.
“Ask questions. Like, I’m an open book. Ask me whatever you want. And so sometimes it’s up to the younger guy to — courage might not be the right word — but to have the courage to come up and ask questions and to not feel like he’s a bother or a pain in the butt.”
Although he will be ultimately competing with Tagovailoa, Fitzpatrick vows to provide the younger quarterback with good information.
“I just try to be open and honest with everything that they want to talk about, because — I talk to my wife about this all of the time — like when I’m done playing football, when I exit that world and don’t either do what you’re doing or transition to another role around football, I have so much knowledge in my mind that I’ve built up that like then just goes to waste,” Fitzpatrick said.
“So I want to pass on all these experiences and lessons and things that I’ve learned to younger guys. Because when I came in, I had the same thing. I had guys that taught and showed me the way.”
Fitzpatrick talks on the podcast about how he has had different experiences with the dozen or so coaches he has played under. And some coaches and staffs give him a short leash with which to operate within the offense.
And some coaches and staffs provide a longer leash.
Gailey, Fitzpatrick notes, is the latter.
“Chan and I have worked together for three years ... He’s the guy who has given me the longest leash in my career in terms of being able to do things,” Fitzpatrick said. “And I trust him completely, and he has ultimate trust in me as well.
“This will be a little bit different in that if I’m out there playing there’s going to be a little bit longer leash because of the history we have together.”
Fitzpatrick is not asked and did not mention to what if any extent Dolphins coach Brian Flores included him in the decision to add Gailey, the timing of which suggests was begun during the season.
The Dolphins fired offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea one day after the Dolphins 2019 season ended, and news of Gailey’s hire leaked the following morning.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 11:31 PM.
