by Having to deal with quarterback changes is nothing new for the Miami Dolphins, who haven’t had a 16-game starter at the position since 2015.
But it’s usually nothing as dramatic as what the Dolphins are experiencing in the first half of the 2022 season. In fact, that’s almost unprecedented.
With Mike McDaniel announcing Wednesday morning that seventh-round rookie Skylar Thompson will start against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, that will give the team three different starting quarterbacks through the first six games.
That hasn’t happened with the Dolphins since 1980, when the team had three different starting quarterbacks in its first four games – Bob Griese, Don Strock and David Woodley.
It’s the 11th time overall the Dolphins will have three different starting QBs in a season — they’ve never had four — and the first time since 2010.
The changes, of course, were necessitated by Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion against Cincinnati and Teddy Bridgewater’s concussion or not against the New York Jets — the final decision wasn’t a factor because he was ruled out by a spotter for a foul.
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THE DECISION TO START SKYLAR
There’s a lot to unpack here based on Wednesday’s news, and we’ll start with the decision to already announce Thompson as the Week 6 starter.
On the face of it, this appears to be either a sign of high confidence in the rookie seventh-round pick after his great preseason and uneven NFL regular season debut, a performance we thought was much, much better than the numbers might suggest. final statistics. says something about the way the Dolphins feel about Bridgewater.
Or something in between, perhaps the idea that Thompson with a full week of practice as a starter can be just as effective as Bridgewater with limited practice time as he continues to work his way back from the concussion protocol.
But here is another factor to consider, and that is the idea of playing it safe.
And that’s where McDaniel might play a role, indicating that Bridgewater still felt soreness in his pectoral muscle Wednesday morning.
Remember, McDaniel said Bridgewater passed concussion tests at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, so the feeling is that in that regard he should be cleared before game day.
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But maybe, just maybe, McDaniel wanted to give the rookie the best possible chance to succeed and decided the best way to do that was to have him practice all week knowing he was going to start, as opposed to preseason of in case Bridgewater isn’t I’m not ready — either because of a concussion protocol setback or because the leg injury is an issue — and then give him the start once the practice week is over.
Or maybe it’s a combination of all the factors mentioned above.
OPTIMISM WITH TOA BUT ALSO BE CAREFUL
The other major development with the Dolphins’ quarterbacks Wednesday, of course, was Tua’s return to practice.
Even though it was on a limited basis, it was a great sign of the quarterback’s recovery, and watching him throw passes in the open-to-the-media portion of practice, he looked like the same Tua we’ve seen all year.
That, of course, will lead to speculation that Tua will be good to go for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, and McDaniel ruled him out of the Minnesota game only as a precaution and because Tua hasn’t had a full practice in two weeks. .
But as optimistic as Dolphins fans want to be here, it’s important to remember that concussions are tough business and the team will be cautious when it comes to Tagovailoa’s health after what he experienced in Cincinnati.
Based on CBS Sports HQ NFL Insider Josina Anderson’s report on Wednesday, what are we to say if we don’t assume Tagovailoa is definitely good for Pittsburgh’s running game, as McDaniel mentioned in his media session.
It’s also important to note that the Dolphins will enter the “soft” portion of their schedule after the Minnesota game.
Starting in Week 7, the list of opponents: Pittsburgh (1-4), Detroit (1-4), Chicago (2-3), Houston (1-3-1) and Cleveland (2-3).
BAD BREAKING FOR BRIDGE WATER
What shouldn’t be lost on this whole situation is how bad it is for Bridgewater.
It was because of the NFL’s new concussion rules — if you call it an overreaction, you’re not unprepared — that his first start for the hometown team was shut out after just one game.
And now he’ll miss the chance to face the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, the kind of game that always has extra meaning for players no matter how much they try to downplay it.
And it’s fair to wonder when Bridgewater will get another chance to start for the Dolphins either because Tua returns to the lineup or because Thompson had a strong performance against Minnesota and the Dolphins want to stick with him against Pittsburgh if Tua he is not ready to come. back.
The Dolphins clearly have a lot of faith in Bridgewater, or they wouldn’t have given him $6.5 million guaranteed to give him an upgrade at the backup quarterback spot over Jacoby Brissett.
But like Tua, he’s fallen victim to some really bad luck.
