There is great hope for a 2024 Miami team that has two straight playoff appearances and four straight wins, and the Dolphins will put another win on the line on Sunday when the Jacksonville Jaguars visit Hard Rock Stadium.

The Dolphins are looking to earn their fourth straight season opener, and head coach Mike McDaniel can extend his September record to 7-1. The Dolphins have averaged 32.5 points per game in September games under McDaniel and return much of the firepower that was responsible for those strong starts.

Wide Receiver Tyreek Hill – “We’re all excited. We’ve got a lot of weapons, a lot of playmakers on this team, man. Everyone is on tenterhooks just waiting for this moment. With the three days off, all I could think about was playing alongside the guys on offense. I’m very excited. Every year is another opportunity to win games and make memories with a great group of guys. You said it. This is our best team we’ve had since we’ve been here. What a time to be alive, to be a Dolphins fan.”

Security Jordan Poyer – “I just feel an energy. It’s a different energy than I felt playing against them last year. This group seems really close. It seems like they have something to prove. Obviously, we know we’re a very talented team, and in those moments of need, in those moments — whether it’s during a game, whether it’s during a week, whether it’s during a season — we’ve got to be able to stick together in those moments and just keep going and keep working and keep grinding. You want to go 17-0 — we’re obviously hoping to go 17-0 — but at the end of the day, you might lose a game, and that’s when it’s all about how you handle those moments. This is a well-resourced team with a lot of veterans and a lot of leaders. So we just want to continue to build on that and hopefully carry that momentum into the season.”

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa – “I study the players they have. It’s not the same scheme, but who’s good in coverage, who’s someone we think we might have a little bit more impact in coverage with that guy. And that’s how I go about it, just looking at footage of the guys on the field. Then you go back to New Orleans, or when (Ryan Nielsen) was the (defensive coordinator) for the Falcons — we had a joint practice with them last year. There were guys that were on the team last year that played with him in Atlanta, and then there were also some guys that were on the team with him when he coached the Saints when he was the DC there. So we have a lot of information that we can gather from a bunch of guys in the locker room and then just watch the video.”

Defender Alec Ingold – “I think it’s never about why you lead or why you want to be a voice in the locker room — a lot of guys lead in a lot of different ways, but when your peers nominate you for the work you do, from OTAs to training camp, and say, ‘We trust these guys to lead us through all the good times, all the bad times, all the tough times.’ That’s a big responsibility, probably the biggest honor you can have in this league.”

Defensive Tackle Zach Sieler – “It’s a huge blessing. I think God put me and my wife in this situation so we can help young guys. I’ve been here for five years, in the league for seven years. To be able to lead by example and hopefully be vocal and be able to set the tone every week, I think that’s a big deal. Obviously, you can’t lead without being the leader and setting the pace, setting the tone. So it’s really exciting to be up there with these guys.”

For more analysis of the Dolphins’ season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, check out Drive Time audiobooks with Travis Wingfield, available wherever you get your podcasts.