Dolphins QB Skylar Thompson not ‘run-of-the-mill rookie,’ prepares for first start – Miami Dolphins Blog

MIAMI — Skylar Thompson’s second NFL game should have a much different feel than his first.

One week after playing his first-career snaps in relief of Teddy Bridgewater, the Dolphins rookie quarterback stands to make his first start Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings (1 p.m., E.T., Fox). Miami’s top two quarterbacks are currently in the league’s concussion protocol, although both Tua Tagovailoa and Bridgewater returned to the practice field this week.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel made it clear — even if both quarterbacks clear protocol, the team is moving forward with Thompson at quarterback this week. The NFL’s preseason leader in passing yards and touchdowns had a “rough rookie debut,” McDaniel said, but his confidence in the 2022 7th-round pick never waned.

“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think the team would agree in terms of their confidence in him,” McDaniel said. “You’re always trying to keep the pulse of how everyone feels. The quarterback’s job is to make people better, and he’s – as you guys have noticed and a lot of people have noticed – he’s not the run-of-the-mill rookie.

“He’s going to have the opportunity to have all the full-speed reps this week because of the position that Teddy is in the protocol. We’re very fortunate to have three quarterbacks that our guys really believe they can operate at a high level with. So it wasn’t that difficult of a decision for me to make in this set of circumstances.”

Thompson, a Kansas State product, threw for 7,124 yards and 42 touchdowns in his collegiate career and earned a spot as the Dolphins’ third quarterback after a stellar preseason. He was forced into his first game action in last week’s 40-17 loss to the New York Jets when Bridgewater was placed into concussion protocol after the Dolphins’ first offensive snap. Thompson finished with 166 yards and an interception on 19-of-33 passing. He also lost a critical fourth-quarter fumble that helped the Jets put the game out of reach.

McDaniel said what Thompson was able to do last week was difficult, considering his lack of practice reps with the first team throughout the week, but he also shed light on how the rookie’s challenge extended beyond the playing field.

Teams generally have at least two active quarterbacks on game day, and the backup speaks with the starter on the sideline to relay things he’s noticed or even offer advice when necessary. But with Bridgewater in concussion protocol and Tagovailoa still in Miami, Thompson was the only quarterback on the Dolphins’ sideline.

“It was a different feeling,” Thompson said. “Obviously spending so much time with those guys and being on the sidelines with him so far this season, not having them there is definitely different because we do talk about things on the sideline, and Teddy points out things to me or vice versa. We’re all working together there.

“They’ve helped me a lot. Whether they’ve vocally said something to me to teach me something or whatnot, they’ve taught me a ton through their actions and the way they carry themselves, the way they prepare. I’m very, very grateful for those guys.”

Right now, McDaniel said, the plan is for Bridgewater to back up Thompson against the Vikings, which he said will make a major difference for the rookie.

“Huge, because in a game experience for a quarterback, you get coached,” McDaniel said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on, and you’re taking in information from one, two, three voices. But then when you have a peer that has gone through it and has seen it, that translation – it might be one word, it might be a pat on the back – that teammate support is a very immensely huge thing for a player like that.

“It was a lonely sideline last week. All Skylar had to talk to was [quarterbacks/pass game coordinator Darrell] Bevell and myself. We’re great guys, but not that great at conversations.”

Thompson said he has relied on his support circle as he prepares for “a dream come true,” and that his father was “emotional and excited” for him as he realizes that dream.

But his teammates have been equally supportive as they look to snap a two-game losing streak against a 4-1 Vikings team that ranks 24th in defensive expected points added and have allowed the 10th-most passing yards in the NFL through five games.

“Honestly, I think it’s his confidence,” Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “He’s confident he can make every throw. He’s confident he knows what the defense is in and trusts his reads.”

McDaniel said he and Thompson looked over the plays the rookie was uncomfortable with from his debut, and found a “common denominator” — his footwork and timing, both of which he said could be corrected with a week of first-team reps.

He told Thompson to “hone in” on the reps he’ll get this week and move beyond last week’s loss.

“If that’s the worst that we’ll see … going into a game, especially as a rookie, completely blind without reps — if that’s the worst you’re going to do, we’re all right,” McDaniel said. “So you should get confidence, in an ironic way, from that game that you, without a shadow of a doubt, can play up to your own personal standard.

“It made me confident in him that he was able to do what he did, own the game plan and be a pretty darn good decision-maker without having anything full speed of that given game plan, which in this game and the National Football League, the difference between that is the difference between an interception or a completion … This full-speed work is vitally important, and I know he’s going to make the best of it this week. So be excited and just go after it, because everybody believes in you.”