Dolphins Backup QBs to Battle It Out

The Miami Dolphins still have a murky situation beyond the expected return of Tua Tagovailoa

Miami Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson (19) throws the ball during the second quarter against Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. / Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins likely will have Tua Tagovailoa back at quarterback against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but who will serve as his backup was a mystery as the team prepared for its first practice of the week.

The one candidate who likely doesn't have a shot is Tyler Huntley, who head coach Mike McDaniel said almost assuredly wouldn't be available because of a shoulder injury.

Beyond that, we could be looking at Skylar Thompson or Tim Boyle or even newcomer C.J. Beathard, signed to the practice squad Wednesday.

"I just want to see how guys play this week," McDaniel said before practice. "Snoop, I don't think is going to be available this week. So based upon how I see Skyler operating, how I see Tim, how I see CJ. (I'll make a) decision based upon that. In our current situation, there's not any predetermined 'I have the right answer.' I'll watch and and adjust. But right now we're assessing and we'll do that on practice field today,"

HAVING THREE BACKUP QBs IS HAVING NO BACKUP QBs?

It was exactly a month ago that Thompson sustained his rib injury against the Seattle Seahawks in his first start for the Dolphins since the 2022 playoff game at Buffalo.

Considering that Thompson has been with the team the past three seasons and beat out Mike White for the No. 2 job in training camp, and the fact that McDaniel isn't stamping him as the guy is really not a good look. This really should be a case where McDaniel would declare that Thompson is the backup if he's healthy enough to go — and this is where we'll point out that while he's remaining on the injury report, he was a full participant all three days last week.

The lack of that kind of declaration is a sign McDaniel obviously isn't totally comfortable running the offense, which brings us back to the Dolphins' failure in the offseason to properly address the backup quarterback situation.

Boyle and Beathard both are familiar with the Dolphins scheme, Boyle from his time with Green Bay and Beathard from his time with McDaniel in San Francisco, but Beathard figures to leapfrog Boyle in the pecking order and maybe even take his place on the active roster at some point because he's got a better NFL resume.

Despite his familiarity with the system, Beathard still should be considered a long shot to be the No. 2 quarterback Sunday and if he gets the nod over a healthy Thompson, that would be a massively telling statement in itself.

Bottom line is it would be a surprise — and another bad look — if it wound up being anybody other than Thompson as Tua's backup Sunday, provided Tua indeed gets the start and Thompson indeed is fully healthy.