In his first game as a man on a contract carrying an average annual new money of $53 million, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played accordingly.
In eleven plays against the Commanders, Tua completed five of five passes for 51 yards and drop.
Coach Mike McDaniel was impressed, both with the performance and the mentality.
“I thought it was probably the least amount of nerves he had the first time he stepped on the football field,” McDaniel told reporters. “I thought it was just us executing some of our concepts on Day 1 and he didn’t pose any problems. I was really impressed with his decisions. I was impressed with his ball placement. I thought he did a good job in 11 reps. So it was good to see him out there and connect some passes. I know he was excited.”
The touchdown pass to River Cracraft was the icing on the cake for an offense lacking star players like receiver Tyreek Hill, receiver Jay-Len Waddle and linebacker Tyrone Armstead.
“This isn’t the first time we haven’t had those guys, and we’ve played and scored,” Tagovailoa said. “Would it be nice to have those guys? It would be nice to have those guys. It opens up our game plan for a lot of deep stuff, and it opens up the run game as well with the two shots we get with those guys. But outside of that, football is football with whoever you have in there. You have to call the play. You have to see it and visualize it, and then go through your keys. If it’s a one-height, that’s how I’m going to read it. If it’s a two-height, that’s how I’m going to read it no matter who’s in there.”
This may be the only work Tua gets in the preseason. He’ll wrap things up next weekend against the Buccaneers. “We’ll evaluate what happens after that and see if we need more or not,” Tagovailoa said.
Much of the focus will be on three weeks from today, when the Jaguars come to town to start the regular season. A few days later, the Dolphins take on the Bills in primetime.
