The Miami Dolphins have a quarterback competition of their own as the battle is on to see who will be Tua Tagovailoa's backup this season as it's between Skylar Thompson and Mike White. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel spoke after the preseason opening win, 20-13, over the Atlanta Falcons to speak on how each of them did as they respectively played each half according to NBC Sports.
“I think each quarterback has a different set of circumstances,” McDaniel said. “That’s why you try to replicate in a competition, you try to replicate that as close as possible. Inverse situation at some point in the preseason. I thought both quarterbacks in their own scenarios had some issues during the game and then they were able to bounce back and do some things, specifically in the second half.”
“I wanted to get Mike [White] in a rhythm and there was some stuff outside of his control that I wanted to see how he would respond to that and I thought he did a good job responding, even though we had a rough, rough set of circumstances,” McDaniel continued. “We were down in the second half to one tight end and one running back and we had a receiver that we just got on board two days ago, so it was a tough situation for him to be in, and I thought he maintained his composure, but we still have a ton of work to do.”
Skylar Thompson on getting better, game slowing down on Dolphins
Thompson threw for 95 yards on completing eight of his 19 passes while throwing a touchdown and a pick as White only connected on four of his 14 throw attempts for 26 yards. The latter was the No. 2 quarterback on the team last season, but with the younger Thompson heading into his fourth year under McDaniel, he spoke on how it's all starting to come together for him.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Thompson said. “I think being able to anticipate windows and kind of trust my feet. I felt like I did a good job today of just getting the ball out on time. There were a couple plays where I had to extend and scramble a little bit. But for the most part I just felt like getting the ball out and seeing it well has been a big point of emphasis for me just to improve on.”
Dolphins backup quarterback battle described as “neck and neck”
McDaniel has said earlier this week that the battle for the backup job is “neck and neck” per NBC Sports between the two quarterbacks as there is no doubt that the preseason will be vital. One would automatically assume that White could get the edge since he has been in the NFL longer by a couple of seasons, but the 25-year old Thompson has had starts for Miami, even in the playoffs where the team lost to the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round only by three points in 2023.
At any rate, fans are hoping they don't have to see either Thompson or White play since Tagovailoa played every game last season despite having injury concerns. Miami's next preseason game is against the Washington Commanders next Saturday in preparation for the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 8.
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