Flores: ‘Tua is our quarterback’ for rest of season

MIAMI — Dolphins coach Brian Flores addressed speculation Friday that the team is in the market to trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, once again declaring the Dolphins’ commitment to Tua Tagovailoa.

“I think I’ve said this multiple times, ‘Tua is our quarterback,'” Flores said. “I don’t get into rumors, I don’t get into speculation — Tua is our quarterback. … I’m focused on our team; I’m focused on our quarterback, and that’s Tua.”

Flores publicly backed Tagovailoa on Wednesday as well, and the Dolphins’ quarterback said he feels confident in his team’s faith in him. Flores was asked to elaborate on that commitment Friday, specifically whether he could definitively say Tagovailoa will be Miami’s starter for the rest of the 2021 season.

“Barring injury, yeah,” Flores responded.

Tagovailoa is in the midst of the best stretch of his career, completing 75% of his passes over his past two games for 620 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Still, Miami is on a six-game losing streak, which has fed into speculation of a possible trade for Watson.

The difficulty in trading for Watson lies in the 22 active lawsuits against him alleging sexual assault and inappropriate behavior. He told the Texans he would waive his no-trade clause for Miami but reportedly has not done so for any other team.

The Dolphins drafted Tagovailoa at No. 5 in 2020, and he will make the 13th start of his NFL career Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.