Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ran the Dolphins offense on the first possession of the preseason, then turned the keys over to his backups, Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers, for the rest of that game and the next one. But Miami coach Mike McDaniel plans to have Tagovailoa back on the field to open the Dolphins’ preseason finale on Saturday.
“That’ll be a great opportunity, great opportunity,” Tagovailoa said. “Hopefully, we get to get (wide receiver Jaylen) Waddle out there, just get him back in his routine, his game-day routine, the feel of hearing the first play, going out running the plays and then, you know, there’s other guys as well. But there’s a lot of injuries and things going on of that nature, so you’re going to have to maneuver through who’s going to be in there, who’s not going to be in there, the risk/reward of that as well, so that’ll be cool to see Saturday night.”
Miami plays the Jacksonville Jaguars at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, to conclude its preseason. The Dolphins’ regular-season slate starts on Sept. 7 against the Indianapolis Colts.
“It’s our first home game,” McDaniel said. “Each and every regular-season game, the success or failure is determined by the process of going from practice to a game. And those reps are invaluable. So that’s where my priority goes. There’s been a lot of technique growth. Preseason’s like practice to me. I’m not looking for results as much as I want to see the growth in their game transfer from a technique and fundamental standpoint. And I want to see guys play together and get the last juice, jitterbugs out before we get real in a couple weeks.”
Tagovailoa said the Miami coaches and players adopted a different attitude for his sixth NFL training camp.
“I think it made us as a team a lot better,” Tagovailoa said. “Focused on the right things. Not focused on the results of the play, but focused on their fundamentals, their techniques, what they had done in individual and how they transitioned that to team periods and what that looked like. And if they transitioned that and it didn’t work out, well, then you can look at, ‘OK, what else are we doing? What else are we not doing coaching-wise and player-wise to get us in that position to where we need to be offensively and defensively?’”
The former Alabama All-American said the change in emphasis had paid dividends for him, too.
“I would say in the previous (training camps), I was more so trying to find the big plays,” Tagovailoa said, “trying to get a result out of that, if you will, versus going through the process. I think as you go through the process, you’re a little more present than trying to think that this is going to be open and then try to make it open in your mind. So just going through the process, seeing the defense, throwing what’s there, then moving on from it, and if it comes back and they take it away, then you continue to go through that process. But I think it keeps me present.”
The Dolphins are seeking to bounce back from their first losing season during Tagovailoa’s time with the team. Miami went 8-9 in 2024, when the quarterback missed six games – four because of a concussion and two because of a hip injury.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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