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Report: Brian Flores was ‘furious’ with Tua Tagovailoa’s play during blowout loss to Titans

Brian Flores and Tua Tagovailoa Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

A new report indicates that former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores was “furious” with Tua Tagovailoa’s play during their blowout loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald looked at some of the issues that led to Flores’ dismissal, including a blowup at Tagovailoa against the Titans on Jan. 2.

“As for the relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, a source confirmed that angry words were exchanged during the Tennessee game, as two media outlets have reported,” Jackson wrote. “Flores was furious with how Tagovailoa was playing and let him know. Tagovailoa resented Flores’ tone and his way of talking to people.

“But a very close associate of Tagovailoa said their working relationship was generally fine and that Tagovailoa doesn’t dislike Flores, joking that their dynamics were good enough for Tagovailoa to send him a Christmas card. That source said the two men could have continued working with together and that the Tennessee incident wasn’t uncommon in the NFL during the heat of a poor performance.”

In that game, Tagovailoa completed 18 of 38 passes for 205 yards and threw an interception. Tagovailoa’s anger at being singled out by Flores came during a game in which he was sacked a season-high four times.

Jackson also offered a number of other examples of how Flores’ communication skills with players were lacking and could have played a role in his firing.

Tagovailoa has only played two NFL seasons, and while he still appears to be the Dolphins’ quarterback of the future, he’s still a work in progress.

Flores is reportedly under consideration for another NFL head coaching job, though Tagovailoa is more focused on who the Dolphins choose to replace him. How well Tagovailoa connects with the new head coach may end up determining if he’s still the long-term plan at quarterback for the Dolphins.