Head coaches have different philosophies when it comes to playing time in the preseason.
This week, Miami’s Mike McDaniel has not yet announced whether quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be on the field for the club’s second preseason matchup against the Raiders.
But if Tagovailoa has his way, he’ll get at least a few snaps to prepare for the regular season.
“Man, I always want to play,” Tagovailoa said in his Wednesday press conference. “I’m going to be honest. I wanted to play last week, too, at least a couple of snaps. But Mike decided that then wasn’t the time. So, hopefully, he gives the first offense and opportunity to go out there, hopefully get some plays in, understand some situations knowing how to manage the game, and kind of get back into the groove of things in that sense — where we have no coaches on the field, we have no one to really line us up. We just really figure things out on our own when we’re out there playing.”
Still, Tagovailoa recognizes the difference in playing an exhibition matchup as opposed to Week One.
“I would say there is some understanding of playing smart in preseason,” Tagovailoa said. “Obviously, you want to get real-live reps, you want to get game reps. But at the same time, you want to be smart because preseason games don’t count. But they do add additional reps for us when we’re going out there to work with each other.”
The Dolphins will host the Raiders for this week’s game at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday with a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.