DAVIE, Fla. _ Brian Flores may have pulled Josh Rosen in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, injecting life into the Miami Dolphins offense during their near-comeback victory against the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Flores also reiterated Monday that Rosen will remain as the Dolphins' starting quarterback, despite leaving the window open for Fitzpatrick as the team shifts its sights to a Week 7 matchup on the road against the Buffalo Bills (4-1).
The Dolphins quarterback position may not be as settled as Flores would like, and could remain a fluid situation as the team navigates its extensive rebuilding process this season.
But it seems two things are clear regarding the position:
_Flores wants to play the player he believes gives Miami its best chance to win.
_And Miami's evaluation of Rosen may already be over, furthering the notion that the Dolphins will draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.
"Right now, it's one game at a time, trying to win every game, each week," Flores said when asked about the Dolphins' need to balance their starting quarterback job while evaluating Rosen this season.
"I'd say, I think by now we've got a pretty good evaluation of him since April, and all OTAs, all training camp, three starts. ... As far as the development part of that, I don't think that's part of it. It's more what we feel is best for the team."
The Miami Dolphins are 0-5 following Sunday's 17-16 loss to the Redskins (1-5), where a failed two-point conversion was the difference between the first victory of the Flores era and a loss, and Miami squandering the inside track on landing the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft.
Flores benched Rosen after arguably the worst start of his NFL career, which left Miami trailing, 17-3, after three quarters.
The performance came just days after Flores said the Dolphins' quarterback situation was "settled" by naming Rosen as the starter for the rest of the season last Wednesday.
Rosen, in his third start with the Dolphins, completed 15-of-25 passes for just 85 yards and had two interceptions. He led a scoring drive that resulted in a field goal. He finished with a 32.9 passer rating.
"I just feel Josh has played well, he's made a lot of strides, he's developed over the course of the last, let's call it, six weeks, training camp, maybe more than that. He's done a good job," Flores said.
"You never want to just pull a guy for one bad game. I think this is still an ongoing conversation between myself, our coaching staff. We really gotta take a look at Buffalo and see what they're doing. We're always going to try to put what we feel is the best group out there."
Fitzpatrick took over in the fourth quarter and led two touchdown drives _ matching Miami's total all season heading into the game _ and had the Dolphins in position to win their first game of the season.
Fitzpatrick drove the offense down the field and connected with receiver DeVante Parker for an 11-yard touchdown with six seconds remaining. But Kenyan Drake dropped a short pass in front of a blockade of Redskins defenders on the two-point conversion attempt that sealed Miami's fate.
Fitzpatrick completed 12-of-18 passes for 132 yards, leading two touchdown drives. It was Fitzpatrick's first significant action since being benched for Rosen following the first two games of the season, where Miami was outscored, 102-10.
Despite the results on the field, Flores finds himself trying to tote a line between being critical and fair to both of his quarterbacks during the Dolphins final 11 games of the season ahead of next year's draft.
"I thought Fitz played really well when he went in there. I thought he did," Flores said. "Yes, I anticipate Josh being the guy, but I think we're going to do what we feel is best for this team. That's what we did yesterday in the fourth quarter.
"I thought Fitz played really well. I thought Josh has played well in spurts also. We'll see how this goes in practice, this week of practice, but yeah Josh will be the starter."
