Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores wants no presumptions made about his starting quarterback situation.
On Tuesday, the team announced that Ryan Fitzpatrick will continue to be its starter for Sunday's game at San Francisco.
The announcement comes a day after Flores told local media that rookie Tua Tagovailoa's recovery from his hip injury sustained in college is a major reason why Miami's No. 5 pick hasn't played an NFL down through the first month of the season.
"Look, I understand where everybody's coming from with Tua. I get all that," Flores said on Monday.
"At the same time, he's a young player, he's coming off the injury. So, we'll make the decision on the starter, but I would presume it's going to be Fitzpatrick."
Flores' comments came Monday afternoon when the team was still piecing together its corrections to make from Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which included a long pause when asked about who will start at quarterback.
The team posted Tuesday's announcement on social media, ending any speculation as to who would start Sunday against the 49ers.
Miami is 1-3 after the first month and believe a bounce-back performance by Fitzpatrick could produce a positive result.
The Dolphins will face a reeling 49ers team that could be without starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who is dealing with a high ankle sprain, and several starting defensive linemen, including Nick Bosa, whose season ended in Week 2 after a knee injury.
"Well, I've been around Fitz for a long time, and I've seen him play very, very well. And I'm a glass is half full kinda guy," said Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who had Fitzpatrick as his starter with the Bills from 2010-12 and the Jets from 2015-16.
"I see great things coming in the future, and that's how I see it."
While the immediate future has Fitzpatrick starting, the Dolphins' future clearly rests with Tagovailoa's health and his development.
Flores reiterated Tagovailoa _ who first suffered a right hip dislocation and posterior wall fracture on Nov. 17, 2019 _ is 100% healthy and "has checked all the boxes from a medical standpoint."
Flores also noted he does not want to succumb to any media pressure before playing the prized rookie, but outside pressure to play Tagovailoa will only get louder if the Dolphins are unable to produce more wins than losses.
"Look, the honest thing from me is if he was my kid and he had a serious injury like that, I wouldn't want his coach to be in a rush to throw him in there because of media pressure or anything like that," Flores said. "Essentially they are my kids. No one is going to pressure me into doing anything. When we feel like he's ready to go, we'll put him in."
Tagovailoa has been active and available to play as Miami's backup, although that opportunity has yet to happen in the first four games of the season.
Still, Gailey insists Tagovailoa will be ready if/when the moment presents himself.
"He's one play away from having to play. I feel like he'll go in and play well," Gailey said of Tagovailoa.
"He's a rookie. He hasn't played a preseason game. He hasn't been in a game at all, so it'll be a new experience. He'll have to go in with eyes wide open. But knowing the person he is and preparation he puts in, he'll be ready when his time is called."
In the interim, Fitzpatrick will remain Miami's starting quarterback.
Fitzpatrick has a 75.3 quarterback rating, which ranks ninth among starting quarterbacks. But his inconsistency has been apparent through the first four games.
At his best, Fitzpatrick led seven touchdown drives in Week 2 and 3 against the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively.
Against those teams, Fitzpatrick completed 73% of his passes for 488 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions, while averaging 7.28 yards per attempt on his throws.
In Fitzpatrick's two worst performances _ in the opener against New England and last week against Seattle _ he has completed 65.3% of his passes for 506 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions with 6.74 yards per attempt.
Fitzpatrick was unable to lead a touchdown drive until the final two minutes against Seattle, when he scored on a 10-yard run, as Miami settled for five field goals in its 31-23 loss to the Seahawks.
Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins hope to avoid squandering valuable red-zone opportunities that has plagued the team during the first month of the season.
"It's easy to point fingers. ... If you want to point fingers, you ought to point them at me because I could've helped us a lot better in the red zone and done a better job of red zone coaching this past week. And we wouldn't be having this conversation," Gailey said before reassuring his confidence in Fitzpatrick.
"I think he is capable of being very good for us."
