Greg Cote: Tua’s preseason Dolphins debut was most impressive hours earlier, alone in an empty stadium

The most impressive thing about the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night in their second preseason game game happened 4 1/2 hours earlier, in an empty Hard Rock Stadium, on an empty field but for one man.

There was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, in shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, at mid-afternoon, by himself, doing dropbacks and going through his progressions without a football. Shadow passing.

“That says everything,” new coach Mike McDaniel would remark later, after the 15-13 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. “That’s why his teammates are confident in him. That’s why I’m confident in him. That’s why his coaching staff is.”