Has Flores seen all he needs to see from Josh Rosen? Here’s his answer and his QB plan
Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores made clear again Monday that the team feels no obligation to get another look at quarterback Josh Rosen in a game this season, and that Ryan Fitzpatrick remains the starter.
Asked if he wants to see Rosen in one of the final two games, Flores indicated that’s not a priority.
“We will always do what we feel is in the best interests of this team and play the guy that gives us the best chance to win; we feel that’s Ryan,” Flores said. “It’s [been] that way for the last 8 to 10 weeks.”
Does the organization believe there’s anything more it can learn about Rosen by seeing him in a game again?
“You can always get more information, but we have what we have [and that’s] practice reps and the game reps he had and his play for [Arizona] a year ago,” Flores said. “The most important thing is what we see in practice on a weekly basis.”
Rosen — who the Dolphins acquired from Arizona in April for second- and fifth-round draft picks — was erratic in three starts earlier this season. In six overall appearances, he has one touchdown pass, five interceptions and a 52 passer rating, while completing 53.2 percent of his passes. The Dolphins, at this point, don’t view him as their long-term quarterback.
Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick’s salary for next season is on the verge of rising to $8 million.
Beyond his $5.5 million base salary for 2020, Fitzpatrick will make another $2.5 million in incentives next season if he plays 75 percent of Miami’s offensive snaps this season.
According to profootballreference, Fitzpatrick has played 76.9 percent of Miami’s snaps. If Rosen had replaced Fitzpatrick for the final two games, then Fitzpatrick would lose the 75 percent incentive but instead would pocket $2 million for playing 65 percent of the snaps.
Whatever Fitzpatrick earns in incentives for next season would be guaranteed money. The contract also guarantees $1.5 million of his $5.5 million base salary next season.
Fitzpatrick would earn an addition $1.5 million, bringing his 2020 salary potentially to $9.5 million, if he plays at least 50 percent of Miami’s snaps (guaranteed) and Miami finishes no worse than 27th in the league in touchdowns scored or pass completion percentage as a team or sacks allowed. But Miami is in the bottom five in all of those categories and worst in sacks allowed with 54.
GUARD ROTATION
The Dolphins have cycled through five guards in two weeks in an attempt to get a read on five young players.
On Sunday, the Dolphins gave 53 snaps to Michael Deiter (who returned to the starting lineup after losing his starting job against the Jets), 52 to Shaq Calhoun (who was inactive against the Jets) and 37 to Evan Brown, a former Giants player claimed off New York’s practice squad earlier this month.
Flores said all three had “good plays, bad plays. We got to do a better job of playing technique. [Brown] got some live action for the first time, showed some quickness and change of direction [but] lost a couple of one on one matchups.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Brown was the best of the three combining run blocking and pass blocking (he allowed one quarterback hit and one pressure). Deiter allowed two pressures and a hit. Calhoun didn’t allow a pressure but graded out poorly in the run game.
Guards Keaton Sutherland and Evan Boehm were both inactive against the Giants after starting against the Jets.
▪ Flores said the disciplinary issue that resulted in ace special teams player Walt Aikens being left home for the Giants game has been resolved, and he’s available to play moving forward.
▪ The NFL fined Flores $25,000 for his animated outburst late in the Jets game, when the coach was irate about a pass interference ruling on replay.
▪ Albert Wilson started for only the third time this season at receiver and had his best game of the season (five catches for 59 yards). The Dolphins had six receivers active, but two of them - Mack Hollins and Trevor Davis — played only on special teams.
▪ The Dolphins split running back playing time evenly between Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin, with each logging 34 offensive snaps. The third back, De’Lance Turner, played only on special teams.
▪ On defense, Taco Charlton was limited to 21 of Miami’s 68 defensive snaps after being inactive last week. Former Ravens player Zac Sieler played 19 snaps in his Dolphins debut, and rookie Jamal Davis — claimed off Tennessee’s practice squad last week — played three. “ Sieler plays with great effort,” Flores said. “He had some good technique plays. Played strongly inside.”
▪ Jerome Baker was the only player to log all 68 defensive snaps. With Charles Harris inactive, Miami gave 16 linebacker snaps to rookie Andrew Van Ginkel and seven to Trent Harris.
▪ The Dolphins went with four undrafted cornerbacks, with Nik Needham playing 67 snaps, Jomal Wiltz 59, Nate Brooks (who was signed on Tuesday) 27 and Lindon Stephens 24. Per PFF, those four corners combined to allow 12 completions in 16 targets against them, for 216 yards and two touchdowns.
Here’s my Monday breakdown of what’s needed for the Dolphins to get the first or second pick in the NFL Draft.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 2:59 PM.
