Washington QB Fitz Thought Dolphins' Tua Move 'Was A Joke'

Ryan Fitzpatrick is proud to call himself "the guy'' now that he's with the Washington Football Team. But it's apparently not the first time the long-time NFL journeyman QB thought that.

And the last time he thought it, when he found out he was wrong?

"I thought it was a joke at first,'' he said, recalling being benched in 2020 while with the Miami Dolphins. 'We're putting Tua in?' I was floored."

In a recent interview with The Athletic's Robert Mays, Fitzpatrick comes across as not wishing to be disrespectful to young QB Tua Tagovailoa or to Miami coach Brian Flores, who oversaw the switch.

"I have a ton of respect for (Flores), and we have a very good relationship," Fitzpatrick said. "But I thought it was a joke at first. 'We're putting Tua in?' I was floored.''

Fitz elaborated on how his viewed the situation.

"That was my team,'' he said of the QB leadership position he felt he'd earned. "I fought through the shit with those guys. I get the way that the NFL works. I get it. But to have it happen the way it did …."

Tagovailoa, 23, was fine. His record in Miami was 6-3 and he completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,814 yards and 11 TDs with just five interceptions.

But was he better-suited to lead the Dolphins to success? Miami will never know, as Flores moves forward with Tua as his guy.

And is Fitz best-suited to be "the guy''? At 38, the Washington Football Team believes so.