OXNARD, Calif. -- When the Miami Dolphins picked Laremy Tunsil in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft, they did so with games like Sunday's against the Los Angeles Chargers in mind.

The Chargers boast one of the league’s most dominant pass-rushing tandems in reigning defensive rookie of the year Joey Bosa and sixth-year pro Melvin Ingram.

“Hands down [one of the best tandems],” Tunsil said. “It’s going to be a big test for me and [right tackle] Ja'Wuan [James].”

Bosa and Ingram combined for 18.5 sacks in 2016 and seemed to improve as the season went along. Over the final six weeks, Bosa, whose dad was a first-round pick of the Dolphins in 1987, recorded 6.5 sacks, tied for the most in the league in that span.

Tunsil spent his rookie season at guard but switched to his more natural spot at left tackle in the offseason. The year he spent on the interior of the line helped him better understand everyone’s responsibilities, he said, but left tackle is home.

“It feels good to be back on the island,” Tunsil said.

On Thursday, Ingram indicated that the Chargers weren’t worried about facing new Dolphins starting quarterback Jay Cutler.

"We don't see him as a problem,” Ingram said. “We need to go out and play our style of football."

That view isn’t shared when the Dolphins look at Ingram and Bosa, who both had 1.5 sacks in the Chargers' 24-21 loss to Denver on Monday night.

“Those two guys are coming and they’re relentless, and their pursuit after the ball is thrown is really remarkable,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. “They really put a lot of good things on tape last week.”

One way the Dolphins hope to neutralize the duo's impact is by establishing an effective running game. If they can’t or fall behind early and are forced to throw the ball more, it only will make the job more difficult for Cutler, who is already handicapped by the fact that he’s been with the team for only a little over a month.

“If we want to make this a throwing-fest, those two guys are going to cause you issues. You have to do a good job running the football,” Gase said. “You have to be efficient in the passing game. You can't sit back there and hold on to the ball, because they’re not going to let you.”

Because Cutler played for Gase in Chicago in 2015, his learning curve isn’t as steep as it would have been going into an unfamiliar system. But it’s still fair to question where the comfort level might be between him and the offensive line, considering their relatively short amount of time together. In 15 games in 2015, Cutler was sacked 29 times, and last season, after Gase left for Miami, he was sacked 17 times in just five games.