Revisiting Brian Flores three years with the Miami Dolphins

Was Brian Flores forced to make Tua the guy?

Despite Fitzpatrick’s success and Tua spending all off-season rehabbing, the second-year head coach pulled the trigger. Why? Was there influence from the top to play their future star? We may never know, but we all wondered why Flores started Tua, given their success.

Tua was also still recovering from a career-threatening injury. By all accounts, the former Bama quarterback should not have been playing at all, but he was.

Here’s something to remember. Flores never treated Tua like a true starter. Flores had no problems pulling him in crucial situations for Fitzpatrick. One example was the Fins 2020 Week 16 victory against the Raiders. It’s not that difficult to imagine why Tua and Flores didn’t get along.

Long after Fitzgerald left for the Washington Commanders, Flores continued the same treatment of Tua into year two of his development. Throughout the 2021 NFL off-season, rumors connected the Miami Dolphins to Houston Texans’ disgruntled quarterback, Deshaun Watson. We’d learn that Watson would only wave his trade clause to play with Brian Flores in Miami.

Flores’ palpable distaste for Tua didn’t stop there. Jacoby Brissett was the benefactor of Flores, not trusting Tua in certain situations, like third and short. Flores often took the ball out of Tua’s hands during red-zone situations. The third-year coach relied on the Wildcat formation.

Regardless of his handling of Tua, Flores ended his Dolphin tenure as the only Fins coach to have back-to-back winning seasons since Dave Wannstedt. We may never know if Ross and Grier forced Flores’ hand in drafting a quarterback he did not want. We may never know if Flores was asked to tank. However, there’s a clear disconnect between Brian Flores, Chirs Grier, and Stephen Ross.