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Tua Tagovailoa on benching: Whatever’s best for the team

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Mike Florio and Peter King grade the Cowboys' preparedness, Tua's impact on the Dolphins and more on a scale from one to 10.

The Dolphins saw their five-game winning streak come to an end in Denver on Sunday and the focus of the postgame discussion for Miami was head coach Brian Flores’ decision to bench quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Flores pulled the first-round pick and turned to former starter Ryan Fitzpatrick in hopes of sparking the team in the second half. Fitzpatrick led the team to a field goal, but a late interception meant he couldn’t get Miami any closer before all was said and done.

In his postgame press conference, Tagovailoa said he was all for doing whatever Flores felt was best for the team.

“My thoughts were whatever was going to be best for the team,” Tagovailoa said. “When I was in, we couldn’t really get things going and Coach felt like it was the best decision to put Fitz in to give us a spark. When I heard that -- it’s really what’s best for the team. If we were to win with Fitz in there, the locker room would be a lot different and everyone would be a lot happier. It just sucks to lose.”

Flores said after the game that Tagovailoa will start against the Jets in Week 12 and Fitzpatrick said it is “very clear that this is Tua’s team” despite the bad outcome against the Broncos.