Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores met with media Thursday in what he referred to as the team’s “State of the Union” address.

Here are 3 major takeaways that caught my ears:

1. Dolphins are heading into 2021 with two offensive coordinators, George Godsey and Eric Studesville. Godsey coached the team’s tight end group the past two seasons, while Studesville was the team’s run-game coordinator and running back’s coach during that time.

But the team hasn’t concretely figured out how that will work with playcalling, but it will be a collaborative effort, said Flores. Flores mentioned that Godsey had called plays in the past during his coaching career. Flores said Studesville was set to take play-calling duties in 2020 if anything ever happens to OC Chan Gailey. However, it seems Flores hasn’t decided on who will be the actual play-caller for the team.

Perhaps the two coordinators will play “rock, paper, scissors”?

2. Flores doesn’t expect to be a big spender on Day 1 of 2021 free agency, saying — “you can’t always get what you want.” The Dolphins will still attempt to go after some of the bigger names, but Flores said they could be “priced-out,” due to the Dolphins amount of cap space. So look for most of their spending to come on Day 2. 

3. Flores said he is “excited” to work with Tua Tagovailoa. He used this word repeatedly in his media meeting. He is definitely looking forward to seeing the jump from Year 1 to Year 2 and says he is totally dedicated to developing his players.

“I’m excited about Tua and this upcoming season. When you think about his situation last year coming off the hip (injury), we threw him in the fire there in Week 7 or Week 8 – I’m not sure exactly what week it was. He started nine games. I thought he made a lot of improvement throughout the course of the season. He had some ups, had some downs, like all of the rookies and like any rookie. I’m really excited about this – that Year 1 to Year 2 jump and being more comfortable…”

“I thought he handled it well last year, but I’m really excited about this upcoming year. Especially, again he had no OTAs, a different training camp. You guys know me – I’m all about the development of players and helping them develop and helping them get better. I think this time, or an offseason, will be helpful to him and really all of the rookies. I’m really excited about working with him this offseason.”

When asked about his reaction to Houston Texans Deshaun Watson’s rumors and the Dolphins’ interest in him, Flores quickly stood by his quarterback.

“My reaction is I’m excited to work with Tua. I think I just mentioned that after the last question. That’s where my interests are; that’s where my excitement is. I think he’s – again, like I said, I think he’s a talented player. I think we here believe in developing players at all positions. I think with an offseason, with OTAs, with more reps, more repetitions; like any player, I think they develop and get better. I think he feels the same way.”

The 3rd-year coach also stated that he had lunch with Tua yesterday. From his words, it seems like that relationship is close.

“He’s doing well. He’s confident. I’m confident in him. I’m looking forward to this offseason.”

@MadmanMikeDD