MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Five practices into training camp, Skylar Thompson continues to lead Mike White in the battle for Miami Dolphins QB2.
Thompson — the 2022 seventh-round pick who started a road playoff game as a rookie — explains why he believes he’s a better player than 12 months ago.
Miami Dolphins’ Skylar Thompson in Battle to Back Up Tua
The last time the football world saw Thompson was the Dolphins’ Wild Card loss to the Bills, a game in which Thompson started due to injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater.
In that game, Thompson completed just 18 of 45 passes for 220 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.
While that certainly wasn’t his best day, Thompson did enough collectively to go into spring ball with a chance to win the Dolphins’ backup quarterback job over White.
He has outperformed White pretty regularly in the practices open to reporters dating back to the spring.
Thompson met with reporters, including PFN, to discuss his offseason and the state of the Dolphins’ quarterback competition.
So how do you feel your training camp is going?
“It’s been a good start. Obviously, there’s always some plays you wish you had back. It’s the nature of the game, but I feel like coming into this second year, kind of knowing what is expected of me on a daily basis, what the schedule looks like, what practice looks like. You know, it’s not our first time doing it, which I felt like has naturally kind of allowed me just to relax a little bit and really just, you know, it’s my second time hearing the language. Everything’s not new to me this year.
“So I feel like that’s allowed me to start on the second and third level. I feel like that’s helped.”
What level is your game on now?
“Well, I would say just like level one is just understanding the offense, you know, as far as the schemes, what are the routes, what’s the progression? You know? And I think the second and third level thing is, ‘OK, what do we like, this scheme vs. this coverage.’ Or you know, ‘if we see this coverage, can I get to my backside quicker?’ You know, that type of thing.
“So, you know, it’s a work in progress, but I feel like that’s where my mind is at this year is, I’m not really focused on my drop and my footwork and how, you know, one gets to this and reset here. I know it, you know, so it’s just trying to expand and help accelerate my process of the defense to where I get the right spot at the right time.”
What is your take out of that experience you had of going up to Buffalo and playing a playoff game?
“Honestly, my mindset this offseason when I took time to digest that, I don’t think it will get much harder than that. I think that really helped free me a little bit going into the second year, you know, that I got to experience some challenging situations vs. a good defense on the road.
“You know, there are a lot of factors that I got to experience that I’m very grateful for, and I think helped me transition into the second year.”
Did Mike McDaniel ever explicitly tell you this offseason you’d compete for QB2?
“Not necessarily. It was just more so just talking about my offseason and kind of what my goals are, what the coaches’ goals are for me. Where they see that I could get better at and what I can work on, and then me kind of giving my feedback and my takeaways of what I feel like I can get better at and vice versa. So it wasn’t necessarily a conversation there. More so, how to progress my development.”
What’s been Mike’s No. 1 message to you dating back to OTAs to get better at this year?
“You know, I wouldn’t say there was anything directly said. I just think, you know, talking to my position coach and stuff is just making things look more fluid. You know, I’m very, very critical in understanding the playbook, and like I said, I feel like I know the playbook very well. I know my progressions. I know my footwork.
“But sometimes I get too deliberate with it to where it kind of makes me late to something where I hang on something longer than I should. So just being able to work more fluidly through my progressions and being smooth and, you know, like I said earlier, just understanding what can move me to my second read quicker or, you know, what’s the ideal coverages vs. what we’re running and kind of accelerate that process.”