DAVIE, Fla. — Despite Ryan Fitzpatrick’s miracle heave that led the Miami Dolphins to a 26-25 win over the Las Vegas Raiders Saturday night, coach Brian Flores once again made it clear Sunday that Tua Tagovailoa remains his starting quarterback.
Flores expressed adamant disagreement with those outside the team building who believe starting the veteran gives the Dolphins the best chances to win.
“Tua has brought us a spark in a lot of other games. I think people will just forget that because we just remember the last thing,” Flores said. “Speculation on whatever people want to speculate about as far as what we should or shouldn’t do based on last night, I wouldn’t do that and forget the body of work over the course of the season to include the last however many games Tua has been starting [eight]. I think he’s played fairly well.
“People may disagree, but I think we would have to agree to disagree in that instance. That’s my take on that. It’s not based off one game or one quarter — there’s a lot of practices that people don’t see, walk-throughs that no one sees. But everyone wants to make a judgment and try to make a decision for us on what we should do without all that information.”
Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho appeared to take another swipe at Jurgen Klopp on Friday by suggesting he didn’t deserve to win FIFA’s Best Men’s Coach Award.
Mourinho told the Liverpool boss the “best team lost” following Spurs’ 2-1 defeat at Anfield on Wednesday, and he also expressed distaste for the German’s touchline antics during the top-of-the-table encounter.
Now, he’s lending his support to Bayern Munich handler Hansi Flick, who lost out to Klopp at Thursday’s Best FIFA Football Awards.
“I think the only chance for Flick to win is that Bayern find two or three more new competitions for him to win,” Mourinho said during a pre-match press conference, according to ESPN’s James Olley.
“So maybe if he wins seven titles in one season, maybe he wins the award,” Mourinho continued. “I believe he only won Champions League, Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, European Super Cup, German Super Cup – he only won five and the biggest one of all.
“I think ‘poor Flick,’ the only chance is for Bayern to find two or three more trophies to see if he can win it.”
Klopp won the Best Men’s Coach honor after leading Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years during the 2019-20 season.
Tottenham are three points below Liverpool in the Premier League table following the teams’ midweek scuffle. Spurs host Leicester City in north London on Sunday, while Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace a day earlier.