The Miami Dolphins play the Washington Commanders on Saturday night, but if the Hard Rock Stadium floor is as bad as it was last week, Tua Tagovailoa should stay on the bench. Why risk him?
Miami’s stadium looked terrible last weekend when the Falcons visited. The grass was everywhere because it had not yet fully grown. A week later, the Dolphins were scheduled to walk the field to decide whether to put their starting quarterback on that surface. There is also expected to be some rain in South Florida on Saturday night. Should the No. 1 team even play in that case?
Tagovailoa is actually expected to play Saturday night, but the question is, for how long? He’ll probably play a quarter at most. He’ll need to get a few reps in before calling it a night. The weather in Miami Gardens won’t be terrible. There’s a slight chance of rain, but hopefully things won’t get out of hand.
It will be interesting to see who plays the skill positions on offense. Jaylen Waddle hasn’t practiced this week, so it would be surprising if he plays on Saturday. Tyreek Hill could play a couple of times, but the Dolphins don’t really need to risk him being on the field. It’s likely that Dolphins fans will see a few passes from Tua and the rest will be handoffs to Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane before they all head to the sideline and take off their helmets for the evening.
As we approach the start of the season, Mike McDaniel wants all of his players to be as healthy as possible. That goes without saying, but Tagovailoa is at the top of his list in that regard.
