The Miami Dolphins’ 2021 preseason schedule has been established for about a month as far as the ‘who’ is concerned — the Dolphins will be facing the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals with their three preseason contest this August. After a 2020 season with no preseason at all, getting these contests on the books for the Dolphins will provide the team with a valuable opportunity to get their young talent warmed up and ready for the rigors of a high-sakes 2021 season.
But some of the finer details are coming into focus as of late as well. Miami, it was announced this week, will be holding joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons ahead of their Week 2 preseason contest at Hard Rock stadium. And now, the latest news is good news for out of town Dolphins fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Miami on television before the season starts.
Miami’s Week 3 preseason contest against the Cincinnati Bengals will be nationally broadcast on CBS.
The matchup is a fascinating one on a couple of fronts, even for the preseason. The last time these two teams played, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stormed across the field mid-game to defend punt returner Jakeem Grant, who was the victim of two dirty hits on punt returns on the day — the second of which left Grant down on the turf while chaos erupted around him. Flores’ willingness to defend his players seemed to energize Miami and help spur them to close the door on Cincinnati for a late season win.
But there’s also the potential matchup between the top-2 quarterbacks drafted from the 2020 NFL Draft. Joe Burrow missed the 2020 season matchup after a knee injury and Tua Tagovailoa nearly missed the game as well with an injury to his throwing hand.
How teams choose to handle playing time during a reduced preseason is yet to be determined. Perhaps Burrow and Tagovailoa won’t play at all. But the good news is we can all find out together when CBS airs the preseason contest across the country.