Ryan Fitzpatrick out for personal reasons. Flores addresses where Dolphins stand at QB
Coach Brian Flores addressed several issues before the team’s fourth padded practice of training camp on Friday:
▪ Ryan Fitzpatrick is out Friday for what Flores termed “personal reasons,” leaving the Dolphins with only two quarterbacks available for practice — Josh Rosen and Tua Tagovailoa.
Flores declined to explain why Fitzpatrick was absent or speculate on when he would return.
The Dolphins brought in QB Jake Rudock for a visit on Thursday but Flores said they have not signed him to this point. But Flores left open the possibility of signing Rudock, who was on the Dolphins’ practice squad last year.
Safety Kavon Frazier also will miss Friday’s practice due to personal reasons. As with Fitzpatrick, Flores declined to give a reason for Frazier’s absence.
Fitzpatrick is not going on the COVID-19 list, we’re told.
Pressed again about how long Fitzpatrick could be out, Flores was non-committal.
“When you are dealing with personal matters, it’s case by case,” Flores said. “I’m going to support my players. However much time they need with specific situations, that’s what they’re going to get. We all should have an understanding from that standpoint. Some things take precedent. I’m going to respect that.”
Asked if Rosen is ahead of Tagovailoa, Flores declined to answer. “Rosen is doing a good job, Tua is doing a good job,” Flores said.
When does Rosen stand?
“He’s had a lot of good moments so far,” Flores said. “We will see how it goes. Experience helps for sure. We don’t have preseason games but we will try to create situations to see whether their decision making process is where he wants it to be. He’s putting the work in to do that. So are all the quarterbacks.
“It’s a new offense. The areas of improvement are honed in on that. Communication, in and out of the huddle, two minutes is an important part of the game. A lot of what happens in two minutes is quarterback driven.
“Do you need to get out of bounds? These are a lot of things [offensive coordinator] Chan Gailey will be saying to him in the helmet but the quarterback needs to know that. Essentially they end up becoming the coach on the field. Rosen is still a young player. Same as Tua. When to make the big throw or take the check down [are important]. We talked about that this morning. We’re looking for leadership, communication, consistently making good decisions.”
▪ Flores said second-year linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel has “got length, straight line speed. He played at the end of last season, got some playing experience under his belt, understands the speed of the game and how strong players are. He’s had good few days so far making the first to second year leap.”
▪ The Dolphins are expected to announce next week whether there be fans at games, and University of Miami athletic director Blake James said he’s prepared for a good possibility of there being no fans at Hard Rock Stadium events this season.
“There will be less fans if there are fans at all,” Flores said. “It won’t be as loud. We all realize that. We’re going to bring the best of whatever the situation brings.”
Here’s my Friday morning Heat notebook, with nuggets on Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic and more.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 9:21 AM.
