Rich Storry - USA Today Sports
Tua Solid, Injuries Hit CB Position in Dolphins Preseason Home Opener
If this was the Miami Dolphins' "dress rehearsal" for the 2022 preseason, it was rather ho-hum.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and several other projected starters made their 2022 debut — and perhaps their only preseason appearance — against a Raiders team that took a different approach and kept most of their front-line players in Las Vegas.
It was, all things considered, a pretty solid outing for Tagovailoa, even though his two drives produced only three points in a 15-13 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.
TAGOVAILOA'S PRESEASON DEBUT
Tagovailoa completed 6 of 8 passes for 58 yards and a 94.8 passer rating, and the two incompletions came when he was forced to get rid of the ball in the face of pressure on a naked bootleg and when tight end Mike Gesicki failed to turn his head around as a third-down pass got to him in the middle of the field.
It was a disappointing outing overall for Gesicki despite his three receptions. Along with that incompletion, his failure to successfully hold his block on a naked bootleg led to Teddy Bridgewater being flagged for intentional grounding for a Raiders safety and he later dropped a pass after being hit.
Like Tagovailoa, Bridgewater also made his preseason debut, and his final stats were pedestrian — 10-for-20 for 119 yards and a 68.5 passer rating.
SKYLAR STEALS THE SHOW
Rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson, who played the entire preseason opener at Tampa Bay, replaced Bridgewater late in the third quarter and led the Dolphins to an 86-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 19-yard pass to rookie Za'Quandre White.
Thompson had a second consecutive impressive outing and gave the Dolphins a chance to pull out a late victory with two beautiful passes to fellow Erik Ezukanma, who finished with 114 receiving yards, but Sanders hit the left upright on a 46-yard field goal attempt.
Sanders accounted for the other Dolphins points with his 46-yard field goal on the Dolphins' second drive and a 57-yard kick in the second quarter.
As was the case against Tampa Bay, the Dolphins running game struggled against the Raiders with 36 yards on 16 attempts, 12 of the yards coming on one run by Salvon Ahmed.
THE DOLPHINS DEFENSE
Defensively, the story became a series of injuries — all of them at the already-thinned cornerback position.
Nik Needham (finger/hand), Keion Crossen and newcomer Mackensie Alexander all were shaken up at some point during the game, though none of the injuries appeared serious.
Then again, any cornerback injury is scary considering that starter Byron Jones has been on PUP since the start of training camp and promising second-year player Trill Williams was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a torn ACL against Tampa Bay in the preseason opener.
After pretty much every starter sat against Tampa Bay, the defense fielded almost its entire normal group against the Raiders except for cornerback Xavien Howard and linebacker Melvin Ingram, in addition to Jones.
The Raiders offense, meanwhile, played without quarterback Derek Carr, running back Josh Jacobs and wide receiver Davante Adams, but that didn't keep backup Jarrett Stidham from directing a 75-yard touchdown drive to start the game.
Las Vegas kept the lead until White's touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders regained the lead with a Daniel Carlson field goal.
Though he wasn't able to help the Dolphins complete the comeback, Thompson finished as the star of the evening, passing for 129 yards with a 152.1 passer rating.
The Dolphins close out their preseason schedule against the Philadelphia Eagles at Hard Rock Stadium next Saturday.
