First-year head coach Brian Flores said Rosen's preseason performance
made it "harder" for him to name veteran journeyman
Ryan Fitzpatrick the Dolphins' Week 1 starter, but he has also regularly downplayed the possibility of Rosen usurping his elder early in 2019. Offensive coordinator Chad O'Shea had similar sentiments on Tuesday, telling reporters the 22-year-old trade acquisition has yet to master Miami's offense entering the season.
"Josh is -- as we've talked about -- he's still learning the offense," O'Shea said,
per The Palm Beach Post. "He's doing a good job on all of the things that aren't the physical part of the game he's improving on, whether it be his awareness on the field, his overall familiarity with the offense, his fundamentals that he needs to work on, just like all the other players need to work on. He's in the same position a lot of other players are. There are just a few fundamentals we're really concentrating on with him."
According to
The Post's Joe Schad, Rosen's "teammates and coaches" seem to agree the ex-Arizona
Cardinals prospect isn't ready for the starting spotlight. Whether or not that's true or justified, the guys with the most pull regarding the Dolphins' offense -- Flores and O'Shea chief among them -- appear to be on the same page, wasting no opportunity to talk up Fitzpatrick's best characteristics or the benefits of developing young quarterbacks slowly.
"A case could be made that the younger guy's not ready," Flores
said rather sternly in late August. "I think, a lot of times, and I understand that thought process (of playing the younger QB to develop him), but I'm the one dealing with the individual player, and sometimes guys just aren't ready."
The coach previously said in July that Fitzpatrick was "
leading the way" in the QB room and said earlier in August he wouldn't "
anoint or crown" Rosen because of a few days of good practice.
Drafted 10th overall by the Cardinals in 2018, Rosen started 13 games for Arizona as a rookie, throwing 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions amid a depleted supporting cast on a now-overhauled 3-13 roster. Replaced by 2019's No. 1 pick,
Kyler Murray, and dealt to Miami at the draft in exchange for second- and fifth-round picks, he officially joined the Dolphins just over a month after the 36-year-old Fitzpatrick signed with the team as a free agent.