Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel didn’t plan for Skylar Thompson to out snap Mike White 54-4 in the team’s 28-3 beatdown of the Houston Texans in Week 2 of the preseason.
But those plans changed big-time when White suffered a concussion in his very limited time on the field.
Which means two things:
- White is probably robbed of the opportunity to make a closing argument in his case to be Tua Tagovailoa’s primary backup.
- We’ll probably see a fair amount of James Blackman — who wasn’t even on the roster when the sun rose Monday — in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Impact of Mike White’s Concussion on Miami Dolphins
McDaniel, speaking to reporters via Zoom Saturday, confirmed that White did indeed suffer a concussion as had been previously reported.
“During the game, some staff members noticed some irregularities,” McDaniel said. “That whole process began. I was just told during the game that he was not available.”
“… I don’t get ahead of myself in terms of planning,” McDaniel continued, “and how guys are gonna play in regular season or in the preseason games until the work week is done. So, we’ll, we’ll move forward.”
With White in the protocol, it left Thompson and Tagovailoa as the only available quarterbacks on the Dolphins roster. As a result, they brought back Blackman, whom the team cut earlier in camp after barely using him in practice.
A wild twist? He could end up playing big snaps Saturday in Jacksonville.
McDaniel won’t tip his hand about how much, if it all, Tagovailoa will play against the Jaguars, but it’s hard to see how it’ll be a ton.
Which means that either Thompson — who is competing with White for QB2 — will get the vast majority of the snaps, or we’ll see Blackman, an undrafted rookie out of Arkansas State, on the field.
It also means that White will have to hope what he’s put on tape in practice and in games up to this point will be enough to win the primary backup job.
Skylar Thompson on his bounce-back performance in second preseason game. pic.twitter.com/L0nsT4yuNf
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) August 19, 2023
This preseason, Thompson has completed 25 of 38 passes for 261 yards (6.9 per attempt), three touchdowns, and two interceptions. His passer rating is 89.9.
White, meanwhile, has just 14 attempts this preseason, completing nine of them for 85 yards (6.1 ypa). White threw an interception in his limited reps for a 51.2 rating.
White’s concussion marks the fourth time in the last 12 months a Dolphins quarterback has been placed in the protocol.