Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses Tua’s status, defends him. Miami adds veteran linebacker

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he’s leaning toward using quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Saturday in Jacksonville (7 p.m., CBS-4) but that backup QB Mike White remains in concussion protocol and won’t play.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins added a veteran inside linebacker, signing A.J. Johnson while waiving linebacker Mike Rose and safety Myles Dorn.

Johnson is an established player, with 34 NFL starts and 39 career games overall. He played for Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in Denver, where he spent his first four NFL seasons and started 12, 16 and 6 games in his final three seasons (2019 through 2021).

He appeared in one game for Seattle last season.

Johnson has 252 career tackles, 4.5 sacks, one interception, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

The Dolphins’ inside linebacker depth chart features starters Jerome Baker and David Long Jr., backups Duke Riley and Channing Tindall, rookie Aubrey Miller and veteran Andrew Van Ginkel, who will be on the team as a combo inside/outside backer.

So Johnson has an uphill climb to make the 53, but Miami will give him a chance. Teams must cut to 53 players by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Back on the quarterback front, Skylar Thompson will have another ample opportunity to make a case for the No. 2 quarterback job in his competition with White, who is cleared to practice but not play in a game.

Regarding whether Tagovailoa would play on Saturday, McDaniel said he’s thinking “more than a series, less than a half” for all the starters, but that could change based on Thursday’s practice. He said he has leaned toward playing Tagovailoa on Saturday but will discuss the matter with coaches late Thursday.

In the wake of ESPN’s Ryan Clark questioning whether Tagovailoa worked enough on his body this offseason, McDaniel gave a rousing endorsement to Tagovailoa’s conditioning and offseason commitment to it.

“We are getting the absolute best version of Tua that’s existed,” McDaniel said. “It’s been top five on the team. You want to talk about someone committed to what he’s doing for the right reasons. He was already invested before this year but taking a bunch of things that have happened, he put an onus on controlling things he can control.

“You talk about every metric that Dave Puloka and his strength staff tracked, every metric of strength that he measured, he shattered his previous highs. In some instances, he’s almost twice as strong at things. He’s taken his nutrition to another level, thought outside the box. I couldn’t be happier with the work he’s put in.”

On another front, quarterback James Blackman, the undrafted FSU rookie, will get snaps in Saturday’s game. “I’m fired up for him,” McDaniel said. “He’s a guy that does things the right ways.”

On injury front, defensive lineman Zach Sieler is “going back and forth dealing with something nagging that didn’t hurt him to continue [in Wednesday’s practice] but was painful,” McDaniel said. “It’s not anything serious. He’ll be day to day. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Tyreek Hill sat out practice on Wednesday because the team thought it was best from a rest standout.

“Tyreek was coach to player protection things with how we were in training camp,” McDaniel said “He had the highest sprint yardage and was the fastest player that day. We didn’t want him to take a step back. You should see him today. And if i see enough today, you’ll see him stop playing football at some point.”

McDaniel addressed other issues:

▪ The Miami Herald (and a couple of other outlets) have reported that the Dolphins have made a trade bid for Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who has received permission to seek a trade. Asked if that’s true, McDaniel declined to answer directly.

“I’m not going to speak about other players,” he said. “Chris Grier’s job is to work. He works at it a lot and keeps me abreast when things are real.”

According to a source, the Dolphins are trying to acquire Taylor and trade talks are ongoing.

Asked why the Dolphins seem to value running back more than some teams, McDaniel said: “It’s a very physical game. Let’s say 1200 plays on each side of the ball. On how many plays are the running backs touching it? It’s a valuable position you have to have depth at.

“That’s why I’ve always valued the position. It’s a big portion of your touches. I got my feet wet in the run game [as a running game coordinator]. It’s very dear to my heart.”

▪ McDaniel said Raekwon Davis “is in the best shape of his life by far and you can see it in his play. He’s adding different tools to his game. He’s always had a lot of love in the locker room. You can feel that as a coach and his teammates really appreciate” it.

He is wearing an orange jersey this week.