In his first game action as a guy with a contract carrying a $53 million annual new-money average, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played accordingly.
In one eleven-play drive against the Commanders, Tua completed five of five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Coach Mike McDaniel was impressed, both by the performance and the mindset.
“I thought it was probably the least amount of nerves that he’s had the first time stepping out on the football field,” McDaniel told reporters. “I thought it was just us executing some of our day-one concepts and he didn’t force any issues. I really liked his decisions. I liked his ball placement. I thought he did a good job in his, I think, 11 reps. So it was nice to see him out there and connecting some passes. I know he was fired up.”
The touchdown pass to River Cracraft capped a drive that lacked star players like receiver Tyreek Hill, receiver Jaylen Waddle, and tackle Terron Armstead.
“That’s not the first time we’ve not had those guys in there, and we’ve played and we’ve scored,” Tagovailoa said. “Would it be good to have those guys? It would be great to have those guys. It opens up our game plan for a lot of deep things, and it opens up the run game as well with the two shells that we get with those guys in. But outside of that, football is football with whoever you’ve got in there. You’ve got to call the play. You’ve got to see it, envision it, and then you go through your keys. If it’s one high, this is how I’m going to read it. If it’s two high, this is how I’m going to read it regardless of who’s in.”
That might be Tua’s only preseason action. The wrap things up next weekend against the Buccaneers. “We’ll assess what happens then, and we’ll see if we need any more or not,” Tagovailoa said.
The bigger focus will be three weeks from today, when the Jaguars come to town to start the regular season. Then, only days later, the Dolphins will face the Bills in prime time.