Rosen Reflections: His Development, His Focus, the QB Room and More

Miami Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen said he's gotten better at reading defenses and his focus is squarely on continuing his improvement as opposed to his job status

Josh Rosen spoke to the South Florida media Tuesday for the first time since the end of the 2019 season, and also for the first time since the Miami Dolphins selected fellow quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the first round of the most recent NFL draft.

It was an impressive media session, during which Rosen acknowledged the areas of his game where he needed to make improvement and reiterated his team-first stance that his man focus is on getting better and not what the Dolphins have been doing at his position.

“I feel positive because I’ve noticed I’m a lot more comfortable behind center this year than I was last year," Rosen said. "And I’m walking up to the line of scrimmage with a plan, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve put a lot of work in this offseason, and after I got benched, I  sort of did kind like a big mirror reality check and just wanted to completely turn inwards and see what I could do better. I kind of flicked myself in the head, like, ‘You’re literally in the room with one of the best minds to ever do it, and that’s Fitz. So I basically just sat there and tried to swallow up as much as I could from him and I took that sort of process into the offseason, and I’m pretty happy with how I feel behind center at this point."

The "Fitz" reference, of course, was to veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is widely expected to be the starter when the Dolphins open the regular season against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 13.

But it's the other quarterback on the team that's drawing pretty much all the attention, that obviously being Tua Tagovailoa.

It's not a new scenario for Rosen, unfortunately, because he went through the same thing last year when the Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray with the first overall pick.

That came after the Cardinals had selected Rosen in the first round of the 2018 draft; the Dolphins' selection of Tagovailoa came a year after they traded second- and fifth-round picks for Rosen.

While he struggled in each of his first two seasons, it would be understandable for Rosen to be upset at being relegated to the back burner in consecutive years, but that's not how he came across Tuesday.

“It is what it is, and I’ve just got to come out and try as hard as I can and compete as hard as I can every day and hopefully get the nod at some point in the future," Rosen said. "Right now, I’m just focusing on improving every day. Fitz is an awesome guy to learn from and I’m sort of trying to continue that progress I had near the end of last year. I think I’m doing a pretty good job of it and we’ll see what the future holds; but I’m just focusing on my development at this point and I think it’s been going pretty well.”

Rosen made three starts for the Dolphins in 2019 after being beaten out by Fitzpatrick for the starting job at the start of the season, but he didn't throw a pass after the Week 6 game against the Washington Redskins.

What hurt Rosen more than anything was an inability to make quick decisions in the pocket, which stemmed from the inability to quickly read defenses. This has been a major focus for him this year.

"Not just watching film, but being able to apply information from the film room onto the field and what that means for my particular play," he said. "So I think I’ve been able to — more so than I ever have in my career — eliminate guys pre-snap and start to zero in a little bit quicker on who I want to throw (to); and that’s helping me get the ball out quicker than I ever have and make fast decisions and not make my offensive line look bad by holding on to the ball. (laughter)”

Rosen, who actually played in high school against Tagovailoa in a California-vs.-Hawaii battle, said he really enjoys the Dolphins' quarterback room, which likely plays a role in his being content to stay in Miami despite the likelihood of a limited role.

There also are bigger issues at play for Rosen.

"Maybe my minds-et will change at some point in the future, but I’m not really focused as much on winning a job as I am just getting better, because I feel like I’ve bounced around a little bit at this point in my career and when you focus on this, you kind of forget about this," he said. "I’m not saying I forgot about one or the other, but my peace right now is in my development as a quarterback, and I feel like that’s been going in a positive direction and that’s why I feel good about where I am right now.

"I was drafted in the first round and I think around the league, people still think I can play to a certain extent, and just whenever that opportunity comes where it comes I just want to be prepared for it because they’re few and far between, and I didn’t do great with the two that I already had. Not many people get third chances, so I’m definitely going to seize the opportunity when it comes.”