Dolphins to Rest Tua, Other Starters in Preseason Finale

Head coach Brian Flores discussed the decision before practice Thursday morning

As it turns out, the Miami Dolphins already have had their "dress rehearsal" this preseason.

Head coach Brian Flores said Thursday morning that most of the team's starters would sit out the preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“Tua won’t play on Sunday and we’ll probably rest most of the starters," Flores said before the team headed out to practice. "We’re still going through that as a staff. We’ve got to play the game. There’ll be some guys in there who’ll get an opportunity to showcase or apply the fundamentals and techniques, the things we’ve been talking about the entire camp, guys who haven’t had as many reps in game.

"But there’ll also be some guys who have played the previous two games playing in this one as well. We’ll try to rest most of the … let’s call them starters.”

Among the starters likely to see action against the Bengals, based on Flores' comments, are the young offensive linemen.

Flores said that right tackle Jesse Davis likely won't play, but didn't mention anybody else up front, an indication that Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, Michael Deiter, Solomon Kindley and rookie second-round pick Liam Eichenberg all might see action.

For Tagovailoa, this means he'll end his first NFL preseason going 24-for-34 for 282 yards with one touchdown and one interception and a 93.0 passer rating.

He was particularly impressive in the 37-17 victory against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday when he completed 16 of 23 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown.

“We probably made the decision before they even played last week," Flores said. "But I thought last week’s performance didn’t hurt, I would say. We talked about it and kind of laid out the summer practice schedule in a way with the joint practices and how we were going to play them in games 1 and 2 and felt good about going this route. Last week’s game didn’t weigh in all that much.”