Tua Tagovailoa Taken Out of Firing Line Against Denver Broncos

Despite the hype surrounding rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa, he is not yet the finished product as Miami found on Sunday.

Veteran signal caller Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Tua Tagovailoa in the 4th quarter as Miami trailed Denver 20 -  10.

Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn’t provide the needed impetus, and The Denver Broncos ultimately held on to win 20 – 13.

After the game, head coach Brian Flores backed Tua Tagovailoa, confirming he’s still the Dolphins’ starter under center.

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“He’s healthy. He is a confident kid. He’s fine,” Brian Flores said, according to ESPN.

Tua’s veteran mentor Fitzpatrick also threw his support behind the rookie.

“It’s very clear this is Tua’s team. Tua is going to continue to get better and grow,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Today was different than the last few weeks. They needed me to go in there and provide a spark.”

Tagovailoa himself said that the decision to take him off was what was best for the team.

“Whatever was going to be best for the team. When I was in there, we couldn’t really get things going,” Tagovailoa said. 

“Coach felt it was best to put Fitz in to give us a spark. When I heard that – it’s really what’s best for the team.”

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Against Denver, Tua had the opportunity to join Ben Roethlisberger as the only two quarterbacks to begin their career 4 – 0. However, it didn’t pan out in a game in which he was heavily targeted.

In theory, the veteran/rookie dynamic of Tagovailoa and Fitzpatrick could help the Dolphins moving forward. However Flores will know that the hype surrounding Tua will be inhibitive. Replacing him with Fitzpatrick on Sunday could temper expectations enough for the rookie to find his feet.