Miami Dolphins Fitzpatrick struggle against tough Jaguars defense

The Miami Dolphins won their third preseason game but it was a struggle early on for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins offense.

On Thursday night, the Miami Dolphins hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars and while they finished the game with a 22-7 victory, the offense struggled early against the Jag’s defense. Ryan Fitzpatrick made no case to start the season opener.

When the Dolphins offensive line wasn’t giving up pressure and Fitzpatrick found time to throw the ball, he was consistently off the mark. Sending passes into the ground short or overthrowing his receivers. On one pass to Preston Williams, who beat Jalen Ramsey on the outside, Fitzpatrick couldn’t get the ball downfield and instead forced Williams to turn his body inside but the ball was still short.

Overall Fitzpatrick’s performance was uneven at best. He would lead the team on a scoring drive but it was later in the third quarter before giving way to Josh Rosen.

Rosen on the other hand, albeit playing against back-ups, led the Dolphins on a 99-yard touchdown drive on his first series. Rosen was able to move around the pocket and make plays on the run using both his arm and his feet.

While Rosen makes a strong case to start the season, it is likely that Fitzpatrick will get the early nod to open 2019. Brian Flores said that he believes Rosen isn’t quite ready yet but the door is open and if Fitzpatrick struggles, Flores won’t hesitate to pull the long-time veteran.

Overall the Dolphins defense played well and we will look at that later today but the offensive woes continued with lack of consistency an quality along the offensive line that is becoming a bigger problem each week. Granted, Laremy Tunsil was not in the lineup on Thursday but there are big problems, especially on the right side.