Tua Among 17 Dolphins Players Sitting Out Preseason Opener

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be joined on the sidelines by several prominent teammates for the team's preseason opener at Tampa Bay

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will not play in the Miami Dolphins' preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night, and he'll be joined on the sideline by more than a dozen of his more prominent teammates.

Along with Tagovailoa, the other players the Dolphins listed as "not expected to play" against Tampa Bay were RB Chase Edmonds, LB Melvin Ingram, S Jevon Holland, WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle, CB Xavien Howard, FB Alec Ingold, RB Raheem Mostert, LB Elandon Roberts, LB Jerome Baker, OL Connor Williams, T Terron Armstead, TE Adam Shaheen, DE Emmanuel Ogbah, DT Zach Sieler and DT Christian Wilkins.

Shortly before kickoff, the Dolphins added four more players to their "inactive list," according to South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter David Furones: T Greg Little, S Sheldrick Redwine, CB Kader Kohou and FB John Lovett. 

All of them are expected to play a significant role for the Dolphins in 2022, except for Shaheen, whose situation is entirely different.

Shaheen is only on the Dolphins roster at this time because his trade to the Houston Texans earlier this week was voided when the Texans failed him on their physical.

With Tagovailoa sitting out, the quarterbacking duties figure to be split between Teddy Bridgewater and rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson.

Armstead and Williams were the two key additions to the offensive line, and in their absence fourth-year player Michael Deiter figures to start at center and either Larnel Coleman or Greg Little figures to start at left tackle.

Ingold has been wearing a red (no-contact jersey) in recent practices, so his absence certainly makes sense. The same goes for Mostert, who is coming off a serious knee injury.