The Miami Dolphins did not get off to a positive start to the season as they lost their Week 1 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders 27-13.
It marked their second consecutive regular season opener in which the team lost by double digits. Unlike last season, when the result came as somewhat of a shock, Miami’s outcome on Sunday appeared to be in the cards after the Dolphins offseason moves.
While the team’s coaching staff and players will make no excuses, the Dolphins were handicapped this season as their salary cap space is allocated more to players who are no longer on the roster. Of course, the Dolphins put themselves in that situation by making a series of monetary mistakes over the past few years.
Among those mistakes was giving a large contract extension to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who the team released this offseason despite him having over $54 million guaranteed. Tagovailoa, who was unable to play in Week 1 due to an oblique injury, received some encouraging news ahead of the second week of the season.
Former Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa Still Listed as Starter
ESPN Atlanta Falcons beat reporter Marc Raimondi posted on X: “Tua Tagovailoa is listed as the #Falcons starter on the team’s Week 2 depth chart. Doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Kevin Stefanski has yet to say who will start against the Panthers on Sunday.
Cooper Rush was listed as the backup with Jack Strand as QB3 and Michael Penix Jr. as a reserve. This was how the depth chart looked last week as well.”
Cooper Rush was listed as the backup with Jack Strand as QB3 and Michael Penix Jr.
Tagovailoa was named Atlanta’s Week 1 starter last week; however, the former Miami Dolphins quarterback suffered an oblique injury which forced him to miss the opening week of the season. The Falcons were forced to start Cooper Rush, who struggled in Atlanta’s loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While Tagovailoa didn’t impress during preseason, Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. does not appear ready to return to action. Last week, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski announced that Tagovailoa was on a week-to-week status. His availability for Week 2 remains to be seen, but for the moment it seems that if he’s healthy, Miami’s former quarterback would get another starting opportunity.
Update on Former Dolphins Players
Aside from Tagovailoa, who did not even make it to the regular season opener, other former Dolphins players struggled during Week 1 with their new teams.
Dolphins on SI’s Alain Poupart wrote: “Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season was not, to put it very politely, very kind to the high-profile former Miami Dolphins players now spread out across the league.
The last and most glaring illustration came Monday night when Jaylen Waddle’s debut with the Denver Broncos became an absolute dud.
It was bad enough that Waddle finished with a microscopic 2 receiving yards on one catch, but what made it worse was a bad third-down drop in the third quarter of the Broncos’ 31-10 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.
For those wondering, the one catch matched Waddle’s career low for games when he played at least 30 offensive snaps.
This clearly is not what anyone saw coming after the trade that sent Waddle to Denver for a first-round pick, along with a swap of third- and fourth-round selections.”
Poupart added that defensive backs Rasul Douglas, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jack Jones Jr. did not make big impacts for the team either.
Former Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa Gets Good News Before Week 2