Brian Flores claims he never lost faith in Tua Tagovailoa despite switch to Ryan Fitzpatrick late in season

The Miami Dolphins had one of the stranger quarterback situations in the league down the stretch in 2020. After starting the season with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center, he was abruptly replaced by Tua Tagovailoa about midway through the year. With the Dolphins on the fringes of the playoff hunt, Tagovailoa was then benched for Fitzpatrick twice during games.

Despite all this, Dolphins coach Brian Flores is adamant that he never lost confidence in Tagovailoa despite those benchings.

“Last year’s situation is … we’ve talked about this numerous times. If he had started the season, we wouldn’t have pulled him,” Flores told Peter King of NBC Sports. 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.”

It’s down to you whether you believe Flores or not. That said, given some of the rumors that have followed Tagovailoa’s status this offseason, it’s fair to wonder if the Dolphins still think they can do better.

It’s also fair to wonder whether Tagovailoa’s teammates have as much faith in the quarterback as Flores does.