Ryan Fitzpatrick has high praise for Tua Tagovailoa

Ryan Fitzpatrick clearly does not share the growing concerns about Tua Tagovailoa’s long-term viability as an NFL quarterback.

Fitzpatrick appeared on “The Ross Tucker Football Podcast” on Monday and showered praise on Tagovailoa, who he worked with on the Miami Dolphins in 2020.

“The two things that really stick out to me about Tua is he has elite accuracy; that’s very important,” Fitzpatrick said, via Brad Sullivan of DolphinNation. “And he throws with anticipation and that is something you don’t see with quarterbacks coming from college to the NFL.

“I’m a huge Tua fan. My kids love Tua. Sometimes they play with him on Madden. Sometimes they play with me. I’m looking forward to big things from him. I think he’s going to do great. As far as being a leader or guys people can follow, he has all those qualities.”

Fitzpatrick preached patience with Tagovailoa, pointing out that Tagovailoa was a rookie in 2020 and still went 6-3 as starter.

There have been reports that some of Tagovailoa’s Dolphins teammates have doubts about the quarterback. That may be true of the organization as well, as they appear willing to try to upgrade at the position. Maybe Fitzpatrick disagreeing with that — as someone who has worked closely with Tagovailoa — means something to them.