Josh Rosen – July 30, 2019
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Tuesday, July 30, 2019
QB Josh Rosen
(Earlier today Head Coach Brian Flores came out and said that right now QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s kind of leading this quarterback competition. What is your viewpoint on that?) – “I’m just trying to control what I can control. I’ve been taking after him since Day 1. He’s been helping me out a bunch, and I keep saying it each and every day that I’m just trying to be better than I was the day before. I think I’ve been on a pretty good trajectory. I think I’m doing better each day and continuing to.”
(Do you feel like you’ve played well?) – “I don’t know about ‘well,’ but better each day. You guys keep asking kind of similar questions. I keep giving similar answers, so I apologize, but that’s kind of like what Coach Flores preaches every day, and that’s what I’m trying to take to heart.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had about a month head start here with the Dolphins. Do you feel like you’ve at least caught up with the stuff like in the film room, playbook, those sorts of things?) – “Yeah. It was kind of like drinking water from a firehose through OTAs, but I got to catch up all throughout the summer as well, and I think we came into training camp on relatively equal ground. He obviously sees defenses in a blink of an eye. He’s been playing for 15 or 16 years, so he can recognize defenses a lot quicker, and I’m trying to get to that level eventually. In terms of the offense, I came on a pretty even playing surface in camp.”
(What specifically do you think you need to do better?) – “Everything. I mean…”
(Is there one or two things that come to mind?) – “Just ID’ing defenses. This offense gives a lot of control to the quarterback, and there are a lot of things I’m doing that I’ve never done before; but I think that it’s an empowering thing, and ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) shows that when you can control everything, you can operate quicker and you can really take advantage of certain things as opposed to sort of dispersing responsibilities, so it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”
(What’s it going to take to get to where you want to get to with the control of the offense?) – “Making the next day better than the previous.”
(Is it watching film, too? Is it play-calling? Is it a bunch of things? Are there a bunch of factors to that?) – “All of the above, yeah.”
(What did Head Coach Brian Flores or Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea say to you today, yesterday, relative to this Flores statement today? Did they kind of give you a heads up? How did they explain things to you about this situation as it stands?) – “I mean I think you guys and us as players are in a little bit different of a memo system with Coach Flores, so it’s kind of fluid throughout camp. For you guys, they’re big announcements; but at least in the locker room and whatnot, it’s always fluid, and everyone’s always battling, and everyone’s working as hard as they can.”
(So are you saying you got the memo before me?) – “Yeah, I would say so. It wasn’t like an official memo. He’s constantly dispersing reps uniquely throughout each practice, and you kind of understand where you are. Today isn’t different than any other day.”
(Do you feel like you could benefit from getting some more work with the ones?) – “I don’t know. It’s not up to me. Whatever rep I get – if it’s one or if it’s 50 – I’m trying to take advantage of every single one.”
(So you think it’s just a matter of how you perform, not who’s around you then?) – “Yeah, absolutely.”
(With everything you’ve kind of dealt with this offseason, have things slowed down for you yet?) – “Yeah, I think – it’s cliché – but literally, every day, it’s just a little bit better, and it’s kind of a daunting task to look at it from a macro perspective, so I try and keep it small and digest each install one by one and try to take each practice one by one and each play. It’s a lot to swallow if you try to take it all in, so I think you’ve got to pick it apart and just can’t get overwhelmed.”
(What do you think you’re doing well?) – “I think – that’s a good question. I think I’ve picked up on this ID’ing the middle linebacker. I’ve never had to make Mike (linebacker) calls before. I think I’m starting to turn that a little bit into second nature, especially in the protection world. So I’m starting to be able to think a little less and play a little more.”
(What about Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea’s offense has excited you?) – “I think Coach’s offense is exciting because of how much power it gives in the quarterback’s hands. I haven’t been able to – I would say – to take complete advantage of it because I’m still kind of fighting against myself in certain moments, but to see ‘Fitz’ and his ability to walk up to the line of scrimmage and damn near know exactly where everyone is and have the power in the offense to be able to change things, I’m looking forward to getting to that level and being able to have that control. You see it with (New England Patriots QB Tom) Brady. I mean he can do literally anything he wants at the line of scrimmage, and it’s all kind of – it’s all within the system. It’s not like he’s improvising. It’s all sort of built in.”
(We know you’re a competitor, obviously, but can it be a little bit dejecting the fact that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has so much experience with the system, knowing it a little bit more that you’re not at his level yet to be able to understand and put up that competition that you want to?) – “No. I would say it’s just a bigger and better challenge to fight, and it’s also better to learn from. I would much rather compete against the best guy that I can because if I beat him, I know I’m that good, and if I don’t, I’ve got someone to learn from and build with, and he’s been awesome with me and helping me out. It’s an ongoing thing, and we’re supporting each other. Whether it’s him, me or Jake (Rudock) that ends up playing, we’re all going to be supporting each other because we’re all on the same team. That’s kind of how sports roll.”
(We pepper you with these questions about starting. What do you get from the outside? Do you get texts from friends or family on how’s it going, and how do you handle that?) – “I mean, I get texts saying, ‘How’s it going?’ and checking in and ‘How’s camp and stuff?’ But I don’t think they’re really asking like, ‘How’s the competition?’ and what not. I think it’s more like, ‘How are my sisters doing?’ and ‘What are they up to back in Manhattan Beach?’”
(It’s been a couple months since this trade. As the dust settles, what have you taken away from your experience last season?) – “I don’t know. It moves really fast. I think you’ve got to get your routine down, and I’m also lucky to be behind ‘Fitz’ as well to kind of see his routine and how he works throughout the season. I would say, probably schematically from last year, I’ve learned – I mean, I understand now – but last year, the defensive schemes were a lot, and I think it – I enjoy this offense as well because as we have to make Mike (linebacker) IDs, we have to understand all 11 on defense. We’re not just trying to see the coverage or trust the center can make all of the calls, so I think that’s a good challenge on my plate that I’m looking forward to.”
(You guys have a scrimmage Saturday. What do you want to accomplish, two or three things that you want to accomplish there?) – “Just trying to execute every play, make all my Mike (linebacker) points in the run game and complete as many passes as I can and score as many touchdowns as I can. That’s three. (laughter)”
(I know you’re in a competition with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, but it sounds like you’re actually kind of appreciative that he’s the guy that you’re learning from right now.) – “Yeah, absolutely. Like I said earlier, if I’m going to beat him out, I’m going to be proud of myself because I know I beat out really, really stiff good competition, and if I don’t, I know I’ve got a really good guy to learn from. I’m excited for the next couple weeks and months to come.”
