McDaniel: Some starters will play in Dolphins opening preseason game
By Brian Miller
Mike McDaniel talked with reporters ahead of the Miami Dolphins practice this morning and gave a little insight into what his plans are for preseason game one.
According to McDaniel, some of his expected starters will make an appearance next week when Miami opens their exhibition season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers upstate.
Who those players are, he didn’t name. We can assume that most of the right side of the offensive line will play as will Connor Williams at center. We likely won’t see much from Mike Gesicki in the passing game but he may get some first-quarter work blocking if any reps at all.
In the secondary, we know that Byron Jones will be out and Xavien Howard won’t touch the field. Nor will Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle who should both be held out of the first game.
Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones should get work at safety early in the game before making a quick exit as well.
Overall, the Dolphins will have to play some veteran starters but McDaniel believes that veteran players don’t really need that kind of work, one of the reasons he tends to hold some players out of practices.
Game two for the Dolphins will be different and that seems to now be the dress rehearsal game around the league but with a gap between the final game and the start of the season, we should see plenty of work in week three.
One player we will likely on get a glimpse of is Tua Tagovailoa. He should see at least one series but I would expect him not see more than that as Teddy Bridgewater will likely play most of the first half with Skylar Thompson finishing the game in the 2nd.