A locker room mutiny if switch to Tagovailoa fails? Why Dolphins aren’t concerned | Opinion

The media loves drama. And it’s sometimes bothersome, including to some in the media such as myself, because sports offers enough spectacle and theater organically that it doesn’t really need forced drama.

That’s why I think the idea of the Miami Dolphins flirting with danger in changing quarterbacks from veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick to rookie Tua Tagovailoa needs to be addressed.

Because there’s an annoying question in the media about there being drama connected to Miami’s move.

What drama, you might ask?

Division.

Resentment.

The stuff that, granted, is sometimes present on some teams when they fail — case in point, the Dallas Cowboys.

So, yes, some teams have issues internally. The Dolphins don’t right now — at least not in the locker room.

And why do I bring this up? Well, because it’s out there.

I addressed the issue tangentially last week because it’s a fair question to investigate. A hot quarterback gets benched for an unproven rookie and one would expect teammates are going to feel some kind of way about it.

But I reported what the Dolphins thought then and continue to think:

No locker room problem.

Yeah, well, the folks at ESPN’s Sunday morning pregame show either don’t read me (makes me sad) or don’t believe me (major mistake) because they went on and on about how this move is driving a wedge through the Miami locker room.

“That locker room resents Tua was given the job,” analyst Matt Hasselbeck said on air.

Hasselbeck offered no proof. Mentioned no names. Cited no source.

It was just a good guy spewing a bad take.

On Monday morning, during my weekly visit with Joe Rose and Zach Krantz on the Joe Rose Show, Rose asked if the Dolphins might have to handle a little locker room crisis because of this quarterback switch.

Not in the short term, I told them and I will repeat to you. Because the Dolphins are confident they won’t have players sniping behind each other’s back. The locker room is not divided in any way into a Fitz camp versus a Tua camp.

And this is what I’ve been told by a trusted source within the team.

But ...

If we get five, six, seven weeks down the road and Tua Tagovailoa is consistently struggling or seems massively overmatched, then there may be folks looking around at one another wondering what went wrong.

That part is merely speculation. It’s looking way down the road to a scenario that no one can definitively predict or discount.

Back to the present? Not an issue, folks.

And coach Brian Flores, knowing the narrative is out there, made that point on Monday.

“I think the guys rally around each other,” Flores said of his players. “I think they support one another. To think there would be division because a guy doesn’t play well, I don’t think we have that on this team. I don’t think we have that one this team.”

Yeah, he repeated it twice so there might be no misunderstanding.

“I think when guys make mistakes, this team rallies around each other and picks each other up,” Flores continued. “To say there will be division, I don’t see that. It hasn’t been that way, and I don’t foresee that.

“We will coach it the way we’ve always coached it. We’ll pick each other up, we’ll rally around each other, we’ll bring energy to the team. I think to even bring that type of energy or speak about it, I think it’s unfortunate that anyone would go that route.

“But obviously that’s out there and people are thinking about it. I don’t see that on this team.”

And now we’re going to do a little exercise. Because when pundits speak in generalities, it sometimes doesn’t feel real because we cannot envision who they’re talking about.

So when Hasselbeck or anyone says people resent this move, who specifically are they talking about?

First, it would have to be a veteran. Because rookies are so green and so worried about their own little life bubble that they’re not typically thinking about critiquing the coach’s decision on the starting quarterback.

Rookies are thinking about getting their technique right.

Getting their money right.

Getting their family right.

Getting their living arrangement right.

Getting their love life right.

So it’s usually vets -- guys who have accomplished a lot, have their contract status on lock, and enjoy a certain status on the team and in the league -- who might begin to think about this stuff.

Who do the Dolphins have like that?

Byron Jones? Not that type of guy.

Xavien Howard? He’s about handling his own business.

Kyle Van Noy? He’s careful about the most mundane questions from the media so he’s not going to create a media feeding frenzy.

Those guys are not going to mutiny. They’re not going to challenge the head coach when no one, including them, is sure the decision is wrong.

And remember: All these potential drama candidates have eyes. They’ve all seen Tagovailoa practice. If, as Flores and other players have said, Tagovailoa has been impressive in practice, what person in his right mind is going to start planting seeds of discord?

The only people I thought might have a difference of opinion on keeping Fitzpatrick as the starter would have been the guys who catch the football — the receivers and tight ends.

Because those guy will be directly impacted and Fitzpatrick has been good for most of them. So I could see one of them wondering if this is a good move.

And out of that group, tight end Mike Gesicki, who basically was adopted by Fitzpatrick last year, seemed the most likely candidate to wish the move hadn’t been made.

Except that on Monday, Gesicki punched his own ticket on the Tua Train.

“I’m super excited for Tua,” Gesicki said. “I think he’s done a great job dating all the way back to college, doing his rehab, getting healthy, and being put into a position to be where he is right now, where he’s the starting quarterback for our football team.

“He’s practiced hard. He’s had a great work ethic. He’s done all the right things preparing for this moment. I’m super excited for him and can’t wait to get out there and get to work with him at full speed practice and all of that kind of stuff.”

But it wasn’t just that. Because Gesicki is fine with Fitzpatrick taking a seat.

“He’s one of my best friends on the team and I’ve been very open about how I feel about him as a teammate, and a guy and a leader for us and all of that kind of stuff,” Gesicki added. “I’ll forever be indebted to Fitz and all of that kind of stuff because he believed in me when not too many people did. Just a thank you to him, and all of that kind of stuff. Now, I’m really excited for this next chapter with Tua getting out there.”

No drama.