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Brian Flores’ irritated response when asked if he’ll start Tua Tagovailoa sooner than later
- Updated: October 5, 2020
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Head coach Brian Flores expressed irritation about the prospect of the media forcing his hand to make a change at quarterback by inserting prize rookie Tua Tagovailoa.
Brian Flores says Tua Tagovailoa has checked all the medical boxes but “if it was my kid and he had a serious injury like that, I wouldn’t want his coach to be in a rush to put him in there because of media pressure… No one is going to pressure me into doing anything.”
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 5, 2020
Even though the Dolphins dropped their third game of the young season on Sunday, Flores has no current plans to replace starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick with Tagovailoa, the fifth overall pick in April’s draft.
Flores has multiple reasons to ignore such urgings, beginning with the fact that Tagovailoa is less than one year removed from major hip surgery.
Tagovailoa has also dealt with other previous injuries as well, with any rush right now to get him onto the field potentially disastrous if he gets hurt again.
Besides the injury factor, Tagovailoa is simply a rookie quarterback who still has plenty to learn about running the team’s offense and handling life in the NFL.
The fact that the Dolphins are still in a rebuilding mode also serves as a reason for Flores to be patient, since only the most positive expectations for this year have hinted at the postseason.
Even before the start of the 2020 season, the Dolphins’ philosophy was for Tagovailoa to spend the year learning on the sidelines. Rushing that process will likely be seen as a panic move that won’t really help the team.
In the meantime, Flores will focus on trying to help the Dolphins win their second game when they face the San Francisco 49ers this coming Sunday.
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