Mike McDaniel sends strong message to Dolphins backup QBs at practice

Mike McDaniel may have had other intentions during the latest Miami Dolphins training camp practice, but there could also be a serious message being sent to his backup quarterbacks.

According to reports, Tua Tagovailoa took all of the practice reps on Monday, leaving Mike White and Skylar Thompson sitting idle on the sidelines. Is this a message they need to start getting better or was this simply a matter of McDaniel's practice plans ahead of preseason Week 2?

The Dolphins will host the Washington Commanders for two joint practice sessions ahead of their second preseason game on Friday night. In the preseason opener, Tagovailoa took a seat on the bench, allowing Thompson and White to handle the duties on the field. Neither performed particularly well in their first outing, leaving many fans wondering if the Dolphins should start making calls to find more suitable options.

Monday's practice may not have been intended to be a message to the two quarterbacks, but it surely can be taken that way and possibly should be. A clearer message would be to sign another quarterback in the coming days to compete against both of them, which is something plenty of people in South Florida are calling for.

The Miami Dolphins are banking everything on QB Tua Tagovailoa

If the Dolphins rely on one of those two, they will be in a bad situation should Tagovailoa go down for any period of time. Neither backup has shown enough to believe the Dolphins' offense can succeed without Tua at the helm. In his career, Thompson has won an important late-season game against a hapless Jets team that got Miami into the playoffs in 2022. He then almost pulled off a shocking upset over the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.

Despite those two games, Thompson hasn't been able to show much more value than as an emergency third quarterback. White was the primary backup last season and the Dolphins kept three QBs on the roster. This year, that likely will not happen. One of the two will need to separate themselves and do so fast. Otherwise, a new QB could end up being signed. Maybe Ryan Tannehill?