MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Good luck finding an uglier passing night than what game attendees and TV viewers were subjected to here Friday night.
The Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons combined for a ridiculous 45 incompletions, a big reason why each team’s 2024 exhibition opener ran three and a half hours.
Miami Dolphins’ Mike White, Skylar Thompson Struggle
Certainly, the personnel under center played a role. Neither Tua Tagovailoa nor Kirk Cousins played Friday. Skylar Thompson and Michael Penix Jr. started for the Dolphins and Falcons, respectively.
Their numbers weren’t great (including a 9-16, 104-yard debut for Penix). But they were certainly better than those who followed later in the game.
Thompson, now in his third year with the Dolphins, played the entire first half and completed eight of 19 passes with a touchdown and a bad interception. But at least the Dolphins moved the ball when he was in the game.
White took over after the intermission, and it was an absolute slog. He went 4-14 for just 26 yards — and a passer rating of 39.6.
But you’d be foolish to make any sweeping declarations about the current state of the Dolphins’ QB2 battle, given what White was working with.
“We had a rough, rough set of circumstances,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said. “In the second half, we’re down to one tight end and one running back, and we had a receiver (Mike Harley Jr.) that we just got on board two days ago. It was a tough situation for [White] to be in. And I thought he maintained his composure. But we still have a ton of work to do.”
White added: “We were limited to what we could run, and I think the other side of the ball knew that too, so it was kind of ‘Ehh.’ But there’s still other things you can work on as a quarterback that I thought I got good reps at.”
If this all seems a bit familiar, it should. White and Thompson were a combined 19 of 30 for 189 yards with three interceptions in last year’s preseason opener.
But McDaniel didn’t overreact then — both QBs ultimately made the team’s 53-man roster. We don’t expect him to overreact now.
White ultimately beat out Thompson for QB2 last year. And McDaniel’s decision on who serves as Tagovailoa’s primary backup this season will be based on all available evidence — game tape, practice work, and classroom acumen.
And even with Friday’s ragged showing, it would be a surprise if the Dolphins look to the outside for quarterback depth. Put simply, it would be a massive challenge for any quarterback not familiar with this system to pick it up in time for the start of the regular season.
Thompson only now is feeling fully comfortable in it — and he’s in his third season with McDaniel.
FREE: Subscribe to PFN’s NFL Newsletter
“We talk so much about playing on time here, playing in rhythm, trusting our feet, and getting through our progressions,” Thompson said. “Our system, the more I’ve been in it, it’s a very fun, quarterback-friendly system. As long as you know the progression, the read, the footwork, the offense works for itself. I think for a quarterback, it allows you not to feel like you have to force anything and trust what you see, trust the windows, trust the timing. Everything is articulated to a science, really.
“It’s really cool when you really look at it. The third year going into it, the verbiage was a challenge for me at first. I feel like that has simplified and gotten a lot better for me. Just being able to process things quickly, that’s the biggest benefit I’ve reached from this year.”