NEW ORLEANS — It must have been tough for Josh Rosen to walk up to that podium in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and answer questions about why he wasn’t named Miami’s starting quarterback.

The starting job went to 36-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick, who will be starting for his NFL-record eighth team when Miami opens against Baltimore on Sept. 8.

So the bigger question now becomes how Miami handles the 22-year-old Rosen.

This is the intersection of what’s best for the 2019 Miami Dolphins vs. what’s best for the Miami Dolphins organization.

“We’re always going to do what we feel is in the best interest of the organization,” coach Brian Flores said.

But there’s room for questioning there.

Playing Rosen would seem to be in the best interest of the organization.

Miami needs to know what it has with Rosen so it will know whether it needs to draft a quarterback in the first round in 2020.

By Flores’ own admission Rosen made the competition close.

“I’ve said multiple times I think he’s improved greatly over the course of training camp,” Flores said of Rosen.

But Rosen’s last few weeks weren’t good enough to overcome Fitzpatrick’s last few months.

“Ryan’s done a really good job from a leadership standpoint, from an execution standpoint, and we feel like that’s the best thing for this team,” Flores said.

So if this isn’t Rosen’s time, when is his time?

No one knows that answer, least of all Flores, who might have been more complimentary toward Rosen on Thursday than he’s been since the day Rosen was acquired.

Lots of Dolphins fans figured Rosen, the better performer during preseason games and the last couple of weeks of training camp, would be the starter.

Others figured Fitzpatrick might get the first four starts, then Miami hits the bye week and after that, the starting job goes to Rosen, not so much because he deserves it or is a better quarterback than Fitzpatrick, but because Miami needs to evaluate the youngster.

“We feel comfortable with (Ryan Fitzpatrick) as the starting quarterback,” coach Brian Flores said. “He brings the leadership and experience and just an overall knowledge, ability to manage and run this offense.” (Chuck Cook / USA Today)

Flores said it won’t work that way. Flores said there’s no designated amount of starts Rosen must make for the organization to get a complete evaluation. Perhaps Rosen makes six starts this year. Perhaps he makes eight starts or 10 starts or 15 starts.

But there’s also a chance Rosen makes just three or four starts.

“Fitz is our starter,” Flores said. “You don’t go into one of these saying, ‘(Rosen) is going to start for this amount of games.’ That’s not how you do this.

“We feel comfortable with (Fitzpatrick) as the starting quarterback. He brings the leadership and experience and just an overall knowledge, ability to manage and run this offense and that’s what we’re looking for. And I think he’ll do a good job.”

Rosen?

Well, now there’s a chance he could find himself fighting for a starting job in next year’s training camp with a first-round pick.

Rosen didn’t seem to agree with the decision announced by Flores after Miami’s 16-13 victory against New Orleans in Thursday’s preseason finale.

But he said he understands.

“You could say to develop the young guy and make sure when he pulls the trigger it’s a real trigger and he’s ready to do it,” Rosen said, adding, “Or you could say trial by fire. But trial by fire didn’t work good for me last year.”

Rosen was 3-10 as a starter for Arizona as a rookie.

Then came the trade that sent him to Miami, to a new team with a new coach and a new offense. It’s a lot of learning.

Rosen, for the third time in a month, compared that experience to drinking water from a fire hose.

Clearly, Flores believes that, and clearly Flores thinks Rosen isn’t yet ready to be a full-season starter.

Flores said the organization reached that decision “in the last week or so.”

That means the quarterback competition has been over for a few days.

That also means there was nothing Rosen could have done Thursday to save his job.

Miami listed 31 guys before kickoff who wouldn’t play Thursday including Fitzpatrick, left tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receivers Kenny Stills, linebacker Kiko Alonso, running backs Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, linebackers Jerome Baker and Sam Eguavoen, cornerback Xavien Howard and safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Bobby McCain.

Rosen, who didn’t play, also should have been on that list, which would have made it at least 32 players who didn’t play.

Rookie right guard Shaq Calhoun, who played into the third quarter, was among the few starters on the field for Miami, which rested almost all of its regulars.

In many ways, there was nothing normal about this game or this night.

Running backs coach Eric Studesville called the offensive plays while safeties coach Tony Oden called the defensive plays.

Tunsil, the subject of trade rumors in exchange for Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, declined to talk after the game. That, too, was unusual.

Flores said he talks to Tunsil every day.

“There is no trade in place for him,” Flores said.

So that was the end of that. For now.

The Rosen question, however, will likely persist all season.

Rosen was acquired as a possible solution to Miami’s problem of not having a franchise quarterback.

The Dolphins must find out if he’s their answer.

Or, perhaps they already have that answer.

Let’s face it, any quarterback who can’t beat out Fitzpatrick, a journeyman, isn’t a franchise quarterback.

Rosen will eventually get his shot but now he must do that by impressing Flores in practice, in the film room, in the weight room. It’ll take time.

But you get the feeling Rosen will eventually make some starts.

“When?” Flores said. “I don’t know. A lot of that is up to him. He knows that. No knock on him … he’s worked extremely hard.”

The problem is Rosen’s hard work wasn’t good enough to beat out Fitzpatrick.

It makes you wonder what’s best for the organization — playing the youngster and taking your lumps for the long-term sake of the organization or playing the veteran and trying to get the 2019 team functioning correctly?

Flores has made his choice and it might be multi-purpose.

Perhaps Flores, by starting Fitzpatrick, is doing the best thing for the organization, the best thing for Rosen and the best thing for the 2019 Dolphins.

“This is a young kid who works extremely hard, and it’s important to him,” Flores said of Rosen. “He is talented. But playing quarterback in this league takes time. … I think he’ll get there. I really do.”

But for the time being, he’ll make that journey from the bench. Flores said Rosen’s development is a “top priority.” It’s just no one knows when Rosen will develop.

“I think sitting helps development,” Flores said. “Hopefully that will be the case here.”

(Top photo of Josh Rosen: Chuck Cook / USA Today)