Ryan Fitzpatrick ‘leading the way’ over Josh Rosen in Dolphins QB battle

Whether it be a statement of fact, some tough love, a motivational tactic or otherwise, Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores wasn’t shy about his opinion of the team’s quarterback battle when asked about it on Tuesday.

With one of veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick or former Cardinals quarterback and second-year signal-caller Josh Rosen expected to win the starting job for the Dolphins, Flores on Tuesday told reporters, “It’s pretty clear to me that Ryan Fitzpatrick is leading the way.”

According to the Miami Herald’s Adam Beasley, Flores then said, “He’s been more productive. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.”

“I think he runs the offense very efficiently,” Flores said as seen in a video from Omar Kelly. “He has great rapport with the entire team. He has a lot of leadership ability. We need that to continue and we need to grow him in that way. We need him to grow in that role. And we need all the quarterbacks to grow and improve and get better.

Dolphins' HC Brian Flores today, on Miami's QB competition between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen: "It's pretty clear to me that Ryan Fitzpatrick is leading the way."

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 30, 2019

“And like I said, it’s still a competition. Every day is a competition. I think they all know that. But as we stand today, I think Ryan’s done a really good job. And hopefully he continues to improve and is consistent, and that will help this team, for sure.”

Arizona traded up in the 2018 NFL Draft to select UCLA’s Rosen at No. 10 overall, the highest pick the Cardinals had used on a quarterback since they took Matt Leinart, also 10th overall, back in 2006. A year later, though, general manager Steve Keim replaced Rosen with Murray, and it looks like Miami doesn’t have immediate expectation for Rosen to be their starter, either.

In his rookie season, Rosen started 13 games after replacing Sam Bradford, who was the Cardinals’ starter going into Week 1. Rosen passed for 2,278 yards and 11 touchdowns with 14 interceptions and a 55.2% completion rate. He played under two different offensive coordinators after Mike McCoy was fired and Byron Leftwich took over, and was also victim to playing behind what was, by most accounts, one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.

Still, a fresh start in South Beach hasn’t seemed to give him a boost just yet, though Flores cautioned that a competition was still ongoing.

Fitzpatrick, 36, passed for 2,366 yards in just eight games (seven starts) last year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a league-leading 9.6 yards per attempt. He threw for 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a 66.7% completion rate.

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