Tua Among 31 Dolphins Players Sitting Out 2023 Preseason Opener

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be joined on the sidelines by Terron Armstead, Tyreek Hill and several other prominent teammates for the team's preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will not play in the Miami Dolphins' preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night, and he's going to have plenty of company on the sideline of guys not in uniform.

The Dolphins have announced their list of players not expected to play and it features a whopping 31 names.

Along with Tagovailoa, the other players the Dolphins listed as "not expected to play" against Atlanta are LB Bradley Chubb, CB Kader Kohou, CB Jalen Ramsey, DB Trill Williams, S Jevon Holland, WR Tyreek Hill, LB Jalen Phillips, WR Jaylen Waddle, CB Justin Bethel, RB Jeff Wilson Jr., CB Xavien Howard, CB Keion Crossen, S Brandon Jones, FB Alec Ingold, RB Raheem Mostert, CB Ethan Bonner, LB Andrew Van Ginkel, LB Duke Riley, LB David Long Jr., LB Jerome Baker, OL Connor Williams, OL Dan Feeney, OL Robert Hunt, T Kendall Lamm, T Terron Armstead, TE Durham Smythe, WR Braylon Sanders, DT Zach Sieler, DT Christian Wilkins and DT Raekwon Davis.

Of those, Ramsey, Trill Williams, Waddle, Bethel, Wilson, Crossen, Bonner and Sanders clearly are out because of injuries.

WHO'LL SEE ACTION

Maybe one of the first things that jump out about this list and who's not on it are offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg and Austin Jackson, who entered training camp as projected starters at left guard and right tackle, respectively. Based on our observations, Jackson actually has done a solid job in camp, but Eichenberg really has struggled.

The absence of so many front-line players will mean extended looks for a lot of younger players hoping to land a roster spot or a bigger role on offense or defense, and that would include the 10 players to watch we featured Thursday.

One veteran whose presence in the lineup might be surprise is edge defender Emmanuel Ogbah, considering he's been a starter for the Dolphins and he had nine sacks in both 2020 and 2021 before his 2022 season was cut short by an injury.

TUA OUT OF OPENER FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

Head coach Mike McDaniel punted earlier this week when he was asked whether Tagovailoa would be in the lineup against Atlanta, but he's following the precedent he set last year in the opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For those looking ahead, Tagovailoa did play in the second and third preseason games against Las Vegas and Philadelphia, respectively, last summer.

Tua's absence means that Skylar Thompson and Mike White will be the two quarterbacks in uniform, though it's unclear how the playing time will be split up at that position.

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