Brian Flores ‘excited’ about Tua Tagovailoa. Why that doesn’t end Deshaun Watson possibility
Brian Flores is all in on Tua Tagovailoa.
He’s all in as in let’s fashion the 2021 offense in such a way that makes it easier on the quarterback. As in having lunch with the player to improve the bond, as the two did this week. As in let’s understand that moving from a college town to South Florida can be hard for a first-year quarterback and make an accommodation for that in his evaluation.
The Miami Dolphins head coach is totally, completely, 100 percent sold Tagovailoa is going to improve in 2021 after his rocky 2020 season.
“I’m excited about Tua this upcoming season,” Flores said Thursday. “You think about his situation last year coming off the hip, we kind of threw him in the fire there Week 7 or Week 8. He started nine games.
“I thought he made a lot of improvement throughout the course of the season. He had some ups, he had some downs — like all the rookies, like any rookie. I’m really excited about that Year 1 to Year 2 jump, being more comfortable, even down here in South Florida. He’s got a place. I mean, look, that rookie year you have a lot going on. You got to get a house, you got to get a car. You got to move to a whole new city.
“There are so many things going on. I thought he handled it well last year, but I’m really excited about this upcoming year, especially when you have to figure he had no OTAs, a different training camp.”
And if you’re still not convinced, then take this:
“Look, you guys know me. I’m all about the development of players and helping them develop and get better. This time, the offseason, is really going to be helpful to him and, really, all rookies. And I’m really excited about working with him this offseason.”
Got it? Good.
And now understand none of this precludes the Dolphins from trying to trade for Deshaun Watson — or keep trying if they haven’t done so already.
Flores is conducting business as if Tagovailoa is definitely, 100 percent going to be the Dolphins quarterback in 2021.
Except he’s not saying that. Not really.
There’s no guarantee in the coach’s excitement. There is no definitive statement that the Dolphins will not continue to pursue the idea of acquiring anyone else to upgrade from Tagovailoa.
To be fair, part of that might be because the coach wasn’t pressed to say as much. Unfortunately, zoom news conferences, in which the club selects questioners and then moves on to someone else, don’t allow for anyone pressing an issue — even the most important issue of all for any NFL team, which is the starting quarterback.
And, speaking for myself, it’s also very hard to ask a question when the “raise hand” function is not even available on my screen, so I’m definitely not getting called on to ask this:
Can you say categorically Tagovailoa will be the Dolphins 2021 starter no matter who may or may not come available between now and the regular season opener?
Simple question. Not tricky. But it leaves no room for equivocation.
And right now, the Dolphins enjoy plenty of room for equivocation.
Because being excited about a player the second week of March is not the same as totally refusing to go in any other direction through the second week of September when the season begins.
Everyone within the NFL community understands this.
“I do think that Miami is going to go all-in on trying to get Deshaun Watson, I do,” said former quarterback and current NBC Sports football analyst Chris Simms on Tuesday’s ProFootballTalk podcast. “I got that sense from people I trust around the league.”
And your next move is to weigh what Flores is saying versus what Simms is saying and decide you believe the team’s coach. That’s what I’d do.
Except what are we believing?
That Flores is excited about Tagovailoa? Of course he is, that’s the quarterback he helped select in last year’s draft ahead of Justin Herbert, who had a better season.
But it makes as much sense to show excitement about Tagovailoa now because there’s a sincere belief in his Miami future as it does because there’s a sincere belief he should bring a high draft pick in return once Watson is on the Dolphins.
Excitement is an open door that leads to a lot of different paths. It includes committing to Tagovailoa. And it includes trading for Watson.
So what I’m noting here is the coach Thursday did a great job of leaving either possibility available.
Flores also made it clear his excitement about Tagovailoa comes with something of a caveat. Because this is what he said during what he called a “state of the union” message about the team to begin his zoom call:
“Our goal is to improve at every position — coaches, players, strength and conditioning, nutrition, training. That’s what we’ve done the last couple of months.”
And this:
“Look, we’re going to try to do anything possible to improve our team and have success in the fall.”
So if Watson actually becomes available, the coach who said this is going to turn his back on the possibility of a quarterback upgrade?
Of course not.
Flores, barring a definitive no-matter-what statement about Tagovailoa as Miami’s quarterback, is playing the margins perfectly.
Flores is fired up about Tagovailoa, because his current quarterback is probably going to be the guy and talking about a trade for someone else would hurt his guy. But Flores is also not yet making that definitive statement that would pull his team out of the Watson possibility.
It’s smart, regardless of any trade speculation to which Flores doesn’t even have to react.
“My reaction is I’m excited to work with Tua,” he said. “That’s where my interests are, that’s where my excitement is. So, I think he’s a talented player. We here believe in developing players at all positions.
“I think with an offseason, with OTAs, with more reps, more repetitions, like any player, he’ll develop and get better. And I think he feels the same way.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 1:41 PM.
