Jake Rudock is expected to get most of the playing time at quarterback when the Dolphins close out their preseason schedule against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, but the fourth-year player is approaching it just like any other game.
Rudock did not play in the 22-7 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, with Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick splitting all the offensive snaps.
In his two preseason appearances, Rudock compiled a 97.9 passer rating while completing 63.2 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and one interception.
Rudock signed with the Dolphins in January after spending last season on the Detroit Lions practice squad. While he certainly is shooting for a spot on the 53-man roster, Rudock says his focus is on what he needs to do to be successful Thursday.
"My mind-set is just to go out there and play football," Rudock said. "Honestly, it's not … you can't be worrying about what's going to happen in a couple days. It's just, 'How can I do a good job today?' and then tomorrow and then when the game comes, do the best that you possibly can."
Rudock said he did not know whether he would start against the Saints on Thursday; even if he doesn't, he's likely to surpass his 19 pass attempts from his first two preseason appearances.
He's ready for the extra work load.
"I think it's just preparing for the game," Rudock said. "Watching the film like you need to watch, get the reps at practice, working with our coaching staff to have a good plan for what we want to do and just going out there and executing."
Practice report
The Dolphins welcomed an old foe to practice Tuesday, as longtime New England Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork made a visit.
Wilfork, who starred at the University of Miami, played for New England from 2004-14 before finishing up his NFL career with two seasons with the Houston Texans.
Players who did not practice Tuesday were TE Dwayne Allen, WR Kenny Stills, G Michael Deiter, C Daniel Kilgore, LB Andrew Van Ginkel, LB Raekwon McMillan, LB Quentin Poling and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Flores said before practice that Fitzpatrick was dealing with an illness.
Godchaux shout-out
Davon Godchaux, who will be going back to his native Louisiana this week, took to Twitter on Sunday to honor the Little League World Series champion River Ridge baseball team.
"I'm very excited," Godchaux said. "I mean, it's Louisiana. Those kids, if I'm not mistaken this is the first year they had a Louisiana River Ridge team. I'm very excited about it. I'm always supporting back home. I'm from Louisiana, so I'm always going to support it. Boot up, baby."
This spring, Godchaux got involved in a little baseball action himself when he joined fellow defensive tackle Vincent Taylor and worked out with the Miami Marlins during spring training.
"I can play," Godchaux said. "I can hit a home run, I can throw a good fastball. I'm very excited about that. I'm a two-sport player, baby."
Alliance reunion
The Dolphins signed seven players out of the short-lived Alliance of American Football in April, and six remain on the roster days before the cuts to the 53-player limit.
Those six players are offensive lineman Michael Dunn, running back Kenneth Farrow, tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith, linebacker Tyrone Holmes, wide receiver Reece Horn and defensive tackle Joey Mbu.
For Horn, the game against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday will reunite him with a former teammate with the AAF's Memphis Express, linebacker Colton Jumper.
"To face one of the former Alliance teammates, it's going to be fun," Horn said. "It's just good to see guys get back into NFL camps from the Alliance league. Obviously not everybody did, but when I played with Memphis, there's probably five or six guys that got shots, myself included. So it was great, especially going up against one of the guys I used to go up against not too long ago. It'll be good this time around."
