5 burning questions for Dolphins preseason game vs. Commanders

The Miami Dolphins have gone through 11 practice sessions, and while most of them have been against their own roster, they met with the Washington Commanders on Wednesday at their BigBear.ai Performance Center for a joint session. Now, for the first time under new head coach Jeff Hafley, the Dolphins will step on the field for a game, as they'll face the Commanders in a preseason battle at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland on Friday. Before the game kicks off, let's look at some of the questions that fans should want answered in this matchup. 1. Who won't be on the field at all? Not only do the Dolphins have several players dealing with injuries as they prepare for this first game, but they also have some veterans who the team may want to hold out from the session to avoid the unneccessary risk of injury. However, with Hafley talking about the veterans needing reps in the system, more starters could play than in most preseason games. 2. How does Malik Willis look running the offense? The Dolphins brought Willis to South Florida this offseason on a three-year, $67.5 million deal to be their starting quarterback. He's flashed at times in camp, but his results in games with the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans yielded mixed results. If he plays at all, it will be interesting to see if he can lead the team to points. 3. Can Caleb Douglas continue his impressive training camp run into a game? Douglas, one of Miami's third-round picks in the 2026 NFL draft, has been the team's best weapon in training camp and even earned the WR1 spot on their unofficial depth chart. Considering he was still Willis' go-to guy in the joint session, he might just be able to keep it up in a game setting. 4. Who lines up at each cornerback spot? Miami's cornerback room is decimated, as JuJu Brents, Darrell Baker Jr. (PUP, Storm Duck (PUP) and Chris Johnson Jr. all didn't participate in the joint session. Hopefully Johnson will be good to go, but even if he does, where does everyone start? Johnson's listed as the team's top nickelback, and it was evident that the Dolphins needed help at the position on Wednesday. 5. Who else could Willis rely on? Beyond Douglas, not many wide receivers have really popped early in camp. There's definitely a connection with Malik Washington as well, but beyond that, the competition for targets is wide open. Somebody needs to step up and show that they are a reliable option for Willis to. This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: 5 burning questions for Dolphins preseason game vs. Commanders