Before the Miami Dolphins play their first regular-season game under a new regime, they have a door to close from the old one.<\/p>\n
Ex-Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will start for the Atlanta Falcons<\/a> in Friday night\u2019s preseason finale.<\/p>\n As Tagovailoa has moved on to his next chapter with the Falcons<\/a> due to the Dolphins\u2019 early-offseason decision to release him, Miami, in its new form, has plenty on its plate<\/a> surrounding the 7 p.m. exhibition kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n But first, Tagovailoa.<\/p>\n Dolphins fans may decide to boo the first time Tagovailoa runs out onto the field with the Atlanta offense. Or maybe they just react with indifference in the preseason setting.<\/p>\n He, along with former general manager Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel, were at the forefront of a recent run that involved great expectations and greater failures.<\/p>\n Even as new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan cut ties with Tagovailoa, the $55.4 million in dead cap from releasing him still lingers and affects his first season at the helm.<\/p>\n Tagovailoa was picked up by the Falcons with an open path to the starting quarterback job as Michael Penix recovered from a severe knee injury this offseason. He hasn\u2019t taken advantage of it in the preseason, though, and Penix has been medically cleared in the past week.<\/p>\n Penix won\u2019t play in the preseason game, and Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski has said starters will see game action, so it\u2019s Tagovailoa\u2019s time to orchestrate the Atlanta first-team offense in his old digs to see if he can win the job to start the season.<\/p>\n Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley hasn\u2019t stated definitively if he will play his starters in the preseason finale, but it would stand to reason that he does. Miami operated the final week of training camp<\/a> as if preparing for a game week, with Wednesday\u2019s practice a lighter session similar to Friday drills before a Sunday game. Beyond that, the Dolphins didn\u2019t go through a joint practice this week, as they did prior to preseason games against the Washington Commanders and New York Giants. Those are generally an intense day of drills.<\/p>\n The roster of the previous Miami regime has largely been purged, but some players remain who were teammates with Tagovailoa.<\/p>\n