Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has yet to decide whether quarterback Tua Tagovailoa or other firmly entrenched starters will play Saturday night in the second preseason against the Washington Commanders.
Forty players were given the night off last week against the Atlanta Falcons. It has yet to be determined how many will face Washington.
McDaniel said time will tell which way he goes on the subject. He also wants to see how well the starters practice with the Commanders on Thursday.
“The idea from a starting point is that I want some starters to play in the game,” McDaniel said. “Now, to say exactly which individuals those are, specifically with the collection of injuries that you have to manage and not really knowing what takes place today [Thursday], we will make some final assessments on who those players are going to be, as a staff tomorrow [Friday].”
Tagovailoa is eager to play on Saturday night. It’s important to note that he played in the second preseason game last year.
“I hope so. It’s always good for any of us, whether you’re a vet or whether you’re new, to get some reps, get back into the pregame routine, get back into the feel of what it feels like to prepare getting ready for a game, all of that,” Tagovailoa said. “Get into game-like situations, getting hit — hopefully not, but you never know when you’re out there and sort of the mental gymnastics of that when you prepare for a game.”
The quarterback knows there will be some level of negotiating with McDaniel for some starters to get repetitions against the Commanders. Tagovailoa also wants to play in a home game before the season starts at Hard Rock Stadium against Jacksonville on September 8th.
“I think it’s sort of like a mutual thing. He [McDaniel] gets with the leaders of the team, guys who have established themselves and guys who have earned the respect of the guys in the locker room — gets with those guys and has a conversation with them, and we come up with basically the idea of ‘Yeah, we’re all playing’ or ‘Maybe not this one,’ or ‘We’ll see what that looks like,’” Tagovailoa said. “Hopefully we do get that opportunity. It would be good because this is our last one at home before we go to Tampa, and then we actually start the season.”
