Brian Flores knows that rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa remains one of the biggest question marks entering the 2020 NFL season for the Miami Dolphins.

Head coach Brian Flores, entering his second year in charge of the Dolphins, expressed potentially troubling and shocking revelations about the progress and status of the team's first-year gunslinger.

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Per Hal Habib in The Palm Beach Post:

“Yes, he was examined, but again, ‘examined’ and then doing a two-hour practice and playing in a game — there’s a process to all those things,” Flores told The Post on Tuesday afternoon. “So, as far as whether or not he can or can’t do something, it would be hard to say.”

Tagovailoa, a standout southpaw quarterback at Alabama, had his accomplished collegiate career cut short during the 2019 Crimson Tide campaign when he badly injured his hip, requiring season-ending surgery. After that, the health status of the Hawaii native was very shrouded and pulled behind curtains before the draft. At the 2020 NFL Draft, though, the Dolphins decidedly gambled to take Tagovailoa, a national champion with ‘Bama, with the fifth overall selection in spite of rumors whispered about his long-term durability.

Given how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the NFL—that is, mostly limited the offseason workout reps teams normally have with their players—the spring and summer preparation for incoming rookie Tua Tagovailoa have definitely been taken a hit, no pun intended. While veteran signal-caller Ryan Fitzpatrick is still on the roster for the Dolphins, possibly stabilizing the position, fans—along with Flores—are eager to see how the 22-year-old lefty performs at the professional level, especially given the face-of-the-franchise expectations.

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