MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – It was the preseason finale, and it had that look.

It had that feel, too – with the Jaguars playing few starters or front-line players in what became a 14-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins in a Preseason Week 3 game at Hard Rock Stadium Saturday night.

Evaluation and health mattered more than the score in this one.

"I told them I'm very proud to be their coach in terms of the way these guys continue to compete," Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen said.

The Jaguars, playing essentially no starters, played mostly solidly defensively Saturday – particularly early – while kicker Cam Little continued a strong preseason with field goals of 43 and 59 yards.

Coen praised the "effort and physicality" of the players who played Saturday.

"I thought they played very well, particularly on the defensive side of the ball," Coen said. "Against their first offense, I thought our guys who were in the game competed very well and made it hard on them early on. They really made it hard for them to move it all night."

With reserve quarterback John Wolford starting for the Jaguars, and with 36 Jaguars players not dressing for the game, the Jaguars played Miami even early while the Dolphins played multiple starters – including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

The Jaguars' reserves held a Dolphins offense with Tagovailoa playing scoreless on the first two possessions before Tagovailoa passed 25 yards to wide receiver Malik Washington for a touchdown with 11:57 remaining in the first half.

Tagovailoa's conversion pass to tight end Pharoah Brown gave the Dolphins an 8-0 lead, with Little's two field goals making it 8-6 at halftime.

Wolford completed three of five passes for 25 yards and no touchdowns with no interceptions, with rookie Seth Henigan playing the final three quarters and completing 15 of 21 passes for 77 yards and no touchdowns with one interception.

"There was a lot to learn from," Henigan said. "There were a couple of operation issues on my end that I need to clean up for sure. We were kicking ourselves in the foot a little too much offensively."

The Jaguars were driving for a potential tying touchdown late when safety John Saunders Jr. intercepted Henigan at the Dolphins 15 and returned it 52 yards.

The Jaguars registered six sacks Saturday – one each by rookie free-agent defensive end Danny Striggow, rookie free-agent defensive lineman B.J. Green II, rookie fourth-round linebacker Jack Kiser, veteran linebacker Yasir Abdullah, rookie free-agent defensive lineman Ethan Downs and rookie defensive lineman Keivie Rose.

The Jaguars are scheduled to open the regular season with a home game against the Carolina Panthers at EverBank Stadium September 7.

"We still have to continue to get better," Coen said. "There's no doubt. We cannot waste a single moment, second, minute, practice, walkthrough, meeting. It cannot be wasted. From now until Carolina, there needs to be continued improvement, but I am proud of this team and the way they compete and the physicality they play with.

"If we can start there and have that as a standard that continues to show up every time we compete, I'll live with that. I am pleased with where we're at from that standpoint."

Step by step:

• The Jaguars outgained the Dolphins 52-17 in a scoreless first quarter, with the Jaguars producing three first downs and forcing two Dolphins punts by sacking Tagovailoa twice – once by Danny Striggow and once by B.J. Green II.
• Tagovailoa's 25-yard touchdown pass to Washington capped a nine-play, 65-yard drive on the Dolphins' third possession. Cam Little's 43-yard field goal cut the Dolphins' lead to 8-3 with 6:03 remaining in the half. Jack Kiser's sack on reserve quarterback Zach Wilson stopped a late second-quarter drive and forced a missed 51-yard field goal by Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders with :58 remaining in the half. Little's 59-yarder came at the end of the first half and cut the lead to 8-6.
• Running back Mike Boone's seven-yard run around right end capped a 12-play, 65-yard drive on the first possession of the second half and pushed the Dolphins' lead to 14-6 with 8:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Notable Game Moments - JAXvsMIA:

The following Jaguars players did not dress for Saturday's game: Running back Travis Etienne Jr., cornerback Jourdan Lewis, cornerback Tyson Campbell, running back Tank Bigsby, wide receiver Dyami Brown, wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., wide receiver Eli Pancol, wide receiver Parker Washington, wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, safety Daniel Thomas, cornerback Jarrian Jones, linebacker Foye Oluokun, safety Caleb Ransaw, safety Eric Murray, cornerback Montaric Brown, running back Bhayshul Tuten, defensive end Josh Hines-Allen, defensive end Travon Walker, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, linebacker Jalen McCleod, offensive lineman Chuma Edoga, defensive end Dawuane Smoot, offensive lineman Wyatt Milum, offensive lineman Patrick Mekari, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, offensive lineman Austin Johnson, offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen, offensive lineman Walker Little, center Robert Hainsey, guard Ezra Cleveland, offensive lineman Anton Harrison, tight end Hunter Long, tight end Brenton Strange, tight end Johnny Mundt, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. Players dressing but not playing included: Quarterback Nick Mullens, running back LeQuint Allen Jr., offensive lineman Fred Johnson, safety Andrew Wingard, safety Darnell Savage, safety Antonio Johnson and linebacker Ventrell Miller.