“No, my confidence wasn’t shaken in him”: Dolphins HC Brian Flores speaks about QB Tua Tagovailoa heading into his 2nd season

The Dolphins drafted QB Tua Tagovailoa to be their QB of the future. Tua had a decent season, going 6-3 in his 9 starts as a QB. But HC Flores had to bench the former Bama QB twice in the 4^th quarter for veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, Flores still has faith in his quarterback.

Miami Dolphins decided to draft Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa with the 5^th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. The Dolphins went 5-11 in 2019. And bumped up that record to 10-6 in 2020 and were only 1 game out of making the playoffs.

However, Tua’s contribution to that success was not much. Tagovailoa went 6-3 as the Dolphins starter in 2020 but was pulled mid-game twice for veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick. The 38-year-old led Miami to a victory in one of those contests and nearly picked up two wins. The pressure also mounted on him considering that QB Justin Herbert, who was drafted 1 pick after him, was having a historic rookie season.

Brian Flores sends a clear message about Tua Tagovailoa’s future.

Flores told Peter King for his Football Morning In America column that he doesn’t put all the weight on Tua’s shoulders.

“I never like to put it on one player,” Flores said. “I think we’ve got a lot of young players, and we’re looking for all of those players as well as really everyone on our team to improve in a variety of ways. If they’re putting all the work in, I expect them to improve, get better, and perform better. Tua is obviously at the top of that list. He’s been working.

All signs point to — or I would say based on my experience — he’s doing everything necessary to make some improvements. That’s really all we can ask for. My thing is if you put the work in, the results will take care of themselves.”

“Last year’s situation is . . . we’ve talked about this numerous times,” Flores told King. “If he had started the season, we wouldn’t have pulled him. We put him in. We’re in a playoff chase. At that point [second half in game 15, at Las Vegas, when Ryan Fitzpatrick entered in relief], it’s hey, we’ve got to do whatever we’ve got to do to try to win. But no, my confidence wasn’t shaken in him.”

The Miami Dolphins look primed to make a serious playoff push in 2020. Tua Tagovailoa will also have a safety net in 2021 1^st round pick WR Jaylen Waddle, who Tua played with at Alabama. So it should be very interesting to see if Tua will be able to lead the Dolphins to their first playoff appearance since 2016.

Also Read: “Jordan Love Has A Long Way To Go”: Aaron Rodgers Drama Looms Over Packers QB Room