The Dolphins’ flight to Seattle this weekend is 2,717 miles. But the distance from where Skylar Thompson is now compared to where he was 20 months ago is even farther.
“The confidence that the team has toward Skylar is real and it’s earned and it’s based upon thousands of hours that, as a backup quarterback, most people don’t see,” head coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday.
Thompson is again Miami’s starting quarterback entering a big test at Seattle (2-0) on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS). With Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve, the Dolphins (1-1) are expected to start Thompson at least the next four games. At most, Thompson is the starter well into the team’s future.
But Sunday is a far cry from where Thompson was on Jan. 15, 2023, when he started in place of Tagovailoa and nearly upset the Bills in an AFC Wild Card playoff. Thompson, 27, is more than ready for Sunday, McDaniel said.
“He has run our plays in a walkthrough setting probably more than anybody on our team. … I mean, he’s done that for a calendar year, incessantly. And the results are, there’s a broader chest in the huddle. There’s more conviction. When you’re watching in 2024, it might be the same name on the jersey, but you’re seeing a different man.”
Thompson’s teammates also see a different man. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks shared his advice for his quarterback as the Dolphins play their first 2024 road game at hostile and deafening Lumen Field.
“Just know that we’re on the field with him,” Brooks said. “He’s not out there by himself. Literally, there’s 10 other guys out there with him. Just know that; trust in the preparation that we go through this week and just play your game. You don’t have to do nothing special.”