Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) walks on the sideline after an apparent injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne / AP, Steven Senne / AP)
The dislocated pinky finger on Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s right, throwing hand is still not allowing him to throw a football on Wednesday, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.
McDaniel offered little else about the quarterback plan going forward, as the team is taking it one day at a time after already deciding starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will not be available for Miami’s regular-season finale against the New York Jets with a spot in the AFC playoffs potentially on the line.
“I can’t really forecast Teddy’s availability,” McDaniel said of Bridgewater.
The coach said Bridgewater will be doing ball-handling drills on Wednesday but won’t be throwing.
In order to get into the postseason on Sunday, the Dolphins (8-8) need to win against the Jets (7-9) and have the Buffalo Bills defeat the New England Patriots.
Bridgewater injured the finger trying to make a tackle on Patriots safety Kyle Dugger on a pick-six that swung last Sunday’s loss in Foxborough in the Patriots’ direction. Should Bridgewater be unable to play in the finale, rookie Skylar Thompson will slide into the starter’s role.
“If he is the guy, I’m very confident because I base my opinions on what I see, and what I see is a guy that can play NFL-caliber football whose teammates believe in him,” McDaniel said of Thompson, the seventh-round selection in the 2022 draft.
McDaniel has been impressed with Thompson’s mobility and poise in the playing time he has had.
“For a rookie quarterback, I’ve seen very strong examples of both,” McDaniel said. “He does best when he has practice reps, and I think we saw a taste of that against Minnesota until he got injured.
“He has a component to his game that sneaks up on people because he does most of his work in the pocket. … He does have a knack of how to use his athleticism, extend a play.”
McDaniel noted how his team has not had a game that wasn’t started by Tagovailoa end with that other starter still available.
To that point, the Dolphins signed veteran quarterback Mike Glennon to the practice squad Wednesday in case Bridgewater can’t go. Glennon would be elevated to back up Thompson in such a scenario.
“A quarterback through and through,” McDaniel noted of Glennon, who has played in 40 NFL games with 31 starts, adding that he has been in multiple systems and plays the quarterback position aggressively.
McDaniel said Tagovailoa has not yet progressed through the stages of concussion protocol to the point where he can return to the field. The team continues to remain committed to not looking beyond the current day in his recovery from a second diagnosed concussion this season, suffered in the Dec. 25 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
This story will be updated.
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Originally published at Tribune News Service