Fitzpatrick Very Upset by Sudden Move to Tua

[EDGECRUSHER]

"Fitzpatrick was caught off guard when he was called into coach Brian Flores' office to learn the news and admitted it "broke his heart" to find out he's not the starter anymore. "I basically got fired yesterday and my day today consisted of Zoom meetings listening to the guy who fired me, and being in a spaced out room listening to the guy who replaced me," Fitzpatrick said. He felt the Dolphins were his team right now, and he was playing well, leading the Dolphins to a 3-3 record headed into their bye week." - Cameron Wolfe

Wow, this really sucks. Fitz is probably the best teammate in the entire league and he has performed miles better than he should've given the talent he was surrounded with. These are his own words so there is no room for misinterpretation. Flores did a terrible job with this transition and it might trickle down onto the playing field.

[Dolphster]

Fitz is a good guy and nobody ever wants to be replaced.  He knew from the minute that they drafted Tua that he was going to be a "place holder" until Tua was ready.   I'm sure it stings for him.  But he has been around long enough to know that football is a business and the Fins are making a business decision.  No competitor likes being replaced but once the sting wears off, I'm sure Fitz will understand it, even if he doesn't like it.  And I'm sure he will continue to be a good mentor to Tua. 

I'm a little surprised at the timing with the Fins only being one game out of being tied for the lead in the East.  But we could debate that one all day long.  Nobody ever confused Fitz with Tom Brady but he has done his job and done it well here. 

[Spider-Dan]

Yeah, this was handled very poorly.  The only way it could be handled worse is if MIA loses the next 3 games and Flores pulls Tua for Fitz... which is definitely a possibility.

The last Fitz saw, he was being pulled during garbage time of a blowout win that put MIA one game back of the division lead. And then you take the starting job from him?  So why was Fitz ever starting in the first place?

Completely unforced error by Flores.  At least wait for Fitz to cool off before you bench him.

[Dolphster]

Yeah, this was handled very poorly.  The only way it could be handled worse is if MIA loses the next 3 games and Flores pulls Tua for Fitz... which is definitely a possibility.

The last Fitz saw, he was being pulled during garbage time of a blowout win that put MIA one game back of the division lead. And then you take the starting job from him?  So why was Fitz ever starting in the first place?

Completely unforced error by Flores.  At least wait for Fitz to cool off before you bench him.

I definitely agree that it was handled poorly.  I totally get it about the bye week being the traditional week to do this type of thing because it gives you two weeks to prepare the new starter.  But Fitz has been the ultimate team player since joining the Dolphins and Flores could have handled this a lot better.  And you are absolutely right about how the only way it could be worse would be if MIA loses the next 3 games and Flores pulls Tua for Fitz.  That would not only be kind of a slap in the face to Fitz but it would make Tua play scared when he is ultimately put back in again.  Now that Flores has made this decision, if if Tua shits the bed, the Dolphins almost are obligated to ride him out the rest of the season now.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Unless Tua throws 17 picks in 4 games, they have to ride him for the rest of the season. He is the "savior" of the Dolphins, not some 7th round lottery ticket. We tanked a whole season for him.

[Downunder Dolphan]

"Fitzpatrick was caught off guard when he was called into coach Brian Flores' office to learn the news and admitted it "broke his heart" to find out he's not the starter anymore. "I basically got fired yesterday and my day today consisted of Zoom meetings listening to the guy who fired me, and being in a spaced out room listening to the guy who replaced me," Fitzpatrick said. He felt the Dolphins were his team right now, and he was playing well, leading the Dolphins to a 3-3 record headed into their bye week." - Cameron Wolfe

I know this has been handled poorly by Flores and Fitz was pissed at being replaced, but Jesus H Christ he should have kept his trap shut!

So this so called "good guy" and "great teammate" publicly mouths off within a few hours of hearing the bad news, and in the process digs a hole for Tua and dumps him neck deep in it before he's even had a snap as a starter. Wow, what a class act...

This was always going to happen at some point during the season - we spent pick 5 on Tua and are sitting at 3-3 with Fitz's play being the usual patchy mix of very good and bloody awful (and that's just the Jets game). This isn't a case of the Chiefs a few years ago when Alex Smith had them top of the division all season and deep in playoff contention when Mahomes was on the pine waiting his time as a rookie - if Fitz thought he was playing that well and he was entitled to be the starter for the rest of the season, then he is seriously deluded.

I know I am in the minority (I have never been a fan of Fitzpatrick, and never wanted him here in the first place), but what he did is not the act of a mature, supportive teammate - if he was then he would have kept quiet and just did his job for the rest of the year with no fuss. I don't care if he was shocked and pissed, I don't care if he thinks it was his last shot at starting in the NFL, I don't care that he has seven kids to feed. He should have been old enough, experienced enough and smart to see this coming and act appropriately.

[Sunstroke]

I know this has been handled poorly by Flores and Fitz was pissed at being replaced, but Jesus H Christ he should have kept his trap shut!

So this so called "good guy" and "great teammate" publicly mouths off within a few hours of hearing the bad news, and in the process digs a hole for Tua and dumps him neck deep in it before he's even had a snap as a starter. Wow, what a class act...

I have to admit, this was pretty much the first thought I had as well...and I actually DO consider myself a Fitz fan.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I have to admit, this was pretty much the first thought I had as well...and I actually DO consider myself a Fitz fan.

I thought this as well. I think the media just caught him at a bad moment with the wounds still fresh. If they asked himafter a week I am sure his answer would've been better.

[stinkfish]

I don't think that Fitzy is burying Tua in a hole or even said anything negative or damaging to anyone at all. His reaction to being replaced, even though he knew it was going to happen, was normal, human, and honest. His statement on being benched is totally innocuous and doesn't take anything away from him as far as being a good guy a great teammate and leader. If what he said makes Tua crumble, the I say tank for Trevor.

[Dave Gray]

Bullshit on the great teammate act.

Great teammates don't mentor by immediately bitching to the media.

[fyo]

Having now read a bit more of what Fitz said, I have zero problems with it. It's easy to sound-bite it and make it seem "bad" (and that was my initial thought as well), but that's not the overall impression I got. Was he disappointed? Hell yeah, and I have no problem with him saying that. He's also understandably worried that this might have been his last time on a football field. When you're playing some pretty solid ball, that's a tough one.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30162680/decision-start-tua-tagovailoa-broke-ryan-fitzpatrick-heart

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Bullshit on the great teammate act.

Great teammates don't mentor by immediately bitching to the media.

Depends on what was said and the context.

 Unprompted rant on instagram about how he is better than Tau = bad teammate.

Responds to a reporter’s question about how he felt by honestly answering disappointed without make any disparaging comments about Tau = human being.  

Does anyone expect him to say he is happy with the decision?  And if he did, would we all be calling him a liar? If he game a Belichick style non-answer would we call him a robot?

[Dolphster]

I have to admit, this was pretty much the first thought I had as well...and I actually DO consider myself a Fitz fan.

I agree that Fitz should have said the "politically correct" thing or just kept his mouth shut.  But since that kind of outburst is rare for him, I'm willing to give him a one time pass. As someone who often blurts out stuff in the heat of the moment myself, I can see where if he was just not in the mood for it when the reporter asked him about it, he might have blown off his mouth.  I will be much more interested to see how he supports and works with Tua from this point on than I am in what he might have popped off about in the heat of the moment. 

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I agree that Fitz should have said the "politically correct" thing or just kept his mouth shut. 

What exactly did he say that wasn’t politically correct?  He said he was disappointed with not playing.  He didn’t say the coaching staff made the wrong decision.  He didn’t say Tau wasn’t ready or inferior.  He didn’t demand a trade.  He didn’t “Favre” and say he wouldn’t mentor or help Tau.  Anyone who begrudges Fitz for being disappointed is selfish.  Even Tau understands why Fitz is disappointed.

This is sound and fury over nothing.

[Dolphster]

What exactly did he say that wasn’t politically correct?  He said he was disappointed with not playing.  He didn’t say the coaching staff made the wrong decision.  He didn’t say Tau wasn’t ready or inferior.  He didn’t demand a trade.  He didn’t “Favre” and say he wouldn’t mentor or help Tau.  Anyone who begrudges Fitz for being disappointed is selfish.  Even Tau understands why Fitz is disappointed.

This is sound and fury over nothing.

I phrased my point poorly.  What I should have said was that Fitz should have said the "politically correct thing" which would have been that Tua wasn't taken #5 overall in order to be a backup QB and that he knew that Tua's day was coming and even though he was disappointed because he has played well and felt that he should still be the starter, he understands that he was a placeholder since draft day and Flores is who makes those decisions and he will support Tua and help to prepare him as best he can every week to put the team in position to win every week.   Even if it was total bullshit and he didn't mean a single word of it, that would have been the proper response to a reporter.  Reporters are almost as sleazy as politicians and they try to bait the people they are interviewing into any little sound bite that they can draft an "attention grabbing" story out of.