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The Miami Dolphins first round pick and quarterback of the future, Tua Tagovailoa, declares himself ready for the 2020 season, per USA Today’s Chris Bumbaca. The Dolphins rookie suffered a right hip dislocation and posterior wall fracture on Nov. 16th of last year, but has been given a clean bill of health going into training camp.
Tagovailoa has been able to rehab at the Dolphins facility, as the NFL made an exception for injured players. That should help get him acclimated and ready for training camp, but the lack of a real off season isn’t the optimal scenario. The rookie signal caller has been getting plenty of coaching up from his only competition for playing time, Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“I have much respect for a guy like that (Fitzpatrick),” Tagovailoa said. “The way he takes care of his body, the way he takes care of things off the field. He’s a coach in the meeting rooms for the offensive line, the receivers. I mean, he has the mindset of a coach but the heart of player. He plays like a player but the way he thinks, he thinks like a coach. Being able to be under someone like that and learn under someone like him, I really think you can only go up with your game.”
With no preseason games and what appears to be limited practice time, Fitzpatrick likely has a leg up in the competition to start out of the gate. There’s no reason to rush Tagovailoa and we know the veteran Fitzpatrick isn’t going to be stingy in coaching up the rookie.
With such a young team, there will likely be plenty of losses and Tagovailoa will see time at some point. When that is, is anybody’s guess, but he’s saying all the right things about possibly backing up Fitzpatrick to start. Expect a smooth transition whenever Tagovailoa makes his first start.