It seems that Brian Flores is caught (once again) being inconsistent with what he tells the media and what’s really going on in regards to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Since suffering an injury on his middle finger on Halloween versus the Buffalo Bills, Tua has been limited in practice, counted OUT against the Texans in Week 9 during pregame warmups, and reduced to a backup role in Week 10 versus the Ravens.

Flores has claimed he’s been trying to save Tua from himself by not pushing through the injury and giving the finger more time to heal. Flores has also stated that the quarterback’s finger injury limits Tua on using the full playbook, reduces him to shorter throws and that Tua’s injured finger is affecting his downfield accuracy.

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However, Dolphins Nation and the rest of the NFL saw that wasn’t the case when Tua came off the bench last Thursday Night and hit Waddle on a deep pass while also being accurate with shorter passes to other receivers.

Quarterback coach Charlie Frye admits that every finger is important on a quarterback’s throwing hand because it affects how he grips, how he throws, how he follows through… but Frye’s comments on Tuesday also contradict Flores’s statements in regards to Tua’s performance in practice with the injury.

When asked what he has seen over the last couple of weeks from Tua throwing with a fractured finger:

“Tua has the arm to make all the throws… he’s done those things in practice, and it shows up in the games.”

When asked about if Tua’s finger affected his downfield throws:

“I think that when you get into the game, the adrenaline and those things take over, and you are thinking more about the type of throw, the type of read you have to make rather than the finger,” Frye replied.

So based on Frye’s comments, it appears that the finger injury wasn’t affecting Tua as much as his head coach led on.

As far as Tua being limited in his throws, Frye stated the only thing that he has noticed is the pain and discomfort Tua has been dealing with, but Frye mentioned nothing about how the finger has affected Tua’s passing ability.

“Obviously, what he says is that he’s fighting through the discomfort, the pain, and those things, but that’s what I see.”

“He’s fighting through the discomfort, but as far as the limitations, I think you need to ask him that.”

Perhaps, Flores was trying to save Tua from himself. Tua has been willing to play through the pain the past two games, but Flores obviously didn’t think that was a good idea. Flores has a tendency to baby-step his players back from injury so that they don’t suffer a setback.

However, with all the storylines with how this regime has handled their quarterback situation since starting Tua, to benching him, to being inconsistent with their verbal commitment towards him, and the Deshaun Watson trade rumors (that are quiet now since the deadline, but still aren’t over) this could just be another chapter in this regime’s attempt to sabotage their young quarterback.