10-13-2022, 12:17 PM
https://www.inforum.com/sports/pro/dolph...arterbacks
The Vikings have had issues in the past facing backup quarterbacks.
Over the last three seasons, they lost games against Chicago in 2019
with Chase Daniel, Kansas City in 2019 with Matt Moore, Dallas in 2020
with Andy Dalton and the Cowboys again in 2021 with Cooper Rush.
On
Sunday in Miami, they are in line to face another backup quarterback in
rookie Skylar Thompson. To be precise, Thompson is the third-stringer
behind Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, both of whom have been
sidelined with concussions.
Regardless, when asked about the
Vikings’ past issues against backups, safety Harrison Smith said
Wednesday, “Quite a different building now.”
Minnesota (4-1) is
led by first-year coach Kevin O’Connell, who replaced the fired Mike
Zimmer. The Vikings already have pulled out three straight close games,
so now they’ll look to reverse another trend.
“I just look at this
team as regardless of who’s playing quarterback, you’ve got to play
with a great plan to try to limit the explosive plays while also being
great against the run,” O’Connell said.
Tagovailoa began the season as Miami’s starter, and threw six
touchdown passes in a Week 2 game at Baltimore on Sept. 18. However, he
was knocked out of the next game, Sept. 25 against Buffalo, with what
was called a back injury, then was sidelined during the Sept. 29 game at
Cincinnati due to a concussion. There has been much discussion in
recent weeks about how his injuries have been handled, and that played a
role in the NFL making recent changes to its concussion rules.
Bridgewater,
who played for the Vikings from 2014-17, took over as the starter last
Sunday against the New York Jets but was sidelined early in the game
with a head injury. He was not allowed to return and was put in the
concussion protocol due to the new rules after he stumbled following his
injury.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday that
Tagovailoa won’t play against the Vikings and he hopes Bridgewater will
return to practice and be cleared to play. But Bridgewater, due to
missing practice time, would be the backup to Thompson, who came off the
bench to complete 19 of 33 passes for 166 yards with an interception in
his NFL debut, a 40-17 loss to the Jets.
After winning their first three games, the Dolphins (3-2) have lost the past two.
“As
long as everything goes to plan with his protocol procedure, I’m very
confident that Teddy will be active in that scenario and be backing up
Skylar,” McDaniel said.
So the Vikings are watching film on Thompson, a seventh-round draft pick from Kansas State in line to make his first NFL start.
“Just
watch the tape that we got to watch and see the reps that he got,”
Smith said. “If they put him out there, they’ve got confidence in him to
do what they’ve been doing.”
If Vikings defensive players want
some additional insight into Thompson, they can turn to rookie
linebacker Brian Asamoah. While at Oklahoma, he went up against Thompson
during each of the past three seasons.
Kansas State won two of those games. Thompson threw for 334 yards in one and 320 yards in another.
“He’s
a good football player,” Asamoah said. “He can throw, he can run.
You’ve got to prepare like you normally do (against a starting
quarterback).”
Asamoah played the first six snaps from scrimmage
in his NFL career in last Sunday’s 29-22 win over Chicago. He could get
more action Sunday, with O’Connell saying the Vikings “want to be able
to mix Brian in there” because of his athleticism.
Another Vikings
defensive player who faced Thompson in college was defensive lineman
Ross Blacklock with TCU in 2019. In a 24-17 Wildcats victory, Thompson
threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 68 yards.
“Dude’s
got a cannon of an arm,” said Blacklock, who did have a sack of
Thompson in that game. “We’ve got to be best prepared. He’s definitely
in the NFL for a reason. We’ve got to go out and play our best ball and
make this team one dimensional, whoever’s playing quarterback.”
O’Connell,
a former NFL backup quarterback, said there is one significant thing in
Thompson’s favor. Unlike a reserve quarterback having to come in cold,
Thompson will have practiced with the first team throughout this week.
“They can prepare him to play a really good game and be really tough for us to handle defensively,” O’Connell said.
That
has happened before against the Vikings with a backup quarterback. Stay
tuned Sunday to see if the result is different this time.
The Vikings have had issues in the past facing backup quarterbacks.
Over the last three seasons, they lost games against Chicago in 2019
with Chase Daniel, Kansas City in 2019 with Matt Moore, Dallas in 2020
with Andy Dalton and the Cowboys again in 2021 with Cooper Rush.
On
Sunday in Miami, they are in line to face another backup quarterback in
rookie Skylar Thompson. To be precise, Thompson is the third-stringer
behind Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, both of whom have been
sidelined with concussions.
Regardless, when asked about the
Vikings’ past issues against backups, safety Harrison Smith said
Wednesday, “Quite a different building now.”
Minnesota (4-1) is
led by first-year coach Kevin O’Connell, who replaced the fired Mike
Zimmer. The Vikings already have pulled out three straight close games,
so now they’ll look to reverse another trend.
“I just look at this
team as regardless of who’s playing quarterback, you’ve got to play
with a great plan to try to limit the explosive plays while also being
great against the run,” O’Connell said.
Tagovailoa began the season as Miami’s starter, and threw six
touchdown passes in a Week 2 game at Baltimore on Sept. 18. However, he
was knocked out of the next game, Sept. 25 against Buffalo, with what
was called a back injury, then was sidelined during the Sept. 29 game at
Cincinnati due to a concussion. There has been much discussion in
recent weeks about how his injuries have been handled, and that played a
role in the NFL making recent changes to its concussion rules.
Bridgewater,
who played for the Vikings from 2014-17, took over as the starter last
Sunday against the New York Jets but was sidelined early in the game
with a head injury. He was not allowed to return and was put in the
concussion protocol due to the new rules after he stumbled following his
injury.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday that
Tagovailoa won’t play against the Vikings and he hopes Bridgewater will
return to practice and be cleared to play. But Bridgewater, due to
missing practice time, would be the backup to Thompson, who came off the
bench to complete 19 of 33 passes for 166 yards with an interception in
his NFL debut, a 40-17 loss to the Jets.
After winning their first three games, the Dolphins (3-2) have lost the past two.
“As
long as everything goes to plan with his protocol procedure, I’m very
confident that Teddy will be active in that scenario and be backing up
Skylar,” McDaniel said.
So the Vikings are watching film on Thompson, a seventh-round draft pick from Kansas State in line to make his first NFL start.
“Just
watch the tape that we got to watch and see the reps that he got,”
Smith said. “If they put him out there, they’ve got confidence in him to
do what they’ve been doing.”
If Vikings defensive players want
some additional insight into Thompson, they can turn to rookie
linebacker Brian Asamoah. While at Oklahoma, he went up against Thompson
during each of the past three seasons.
Kansas State won two of those games. Thompson threw for 334 yards in one and 320 yards in another.
“He’s
a good football player,” Asamoah said. “He can throw, he can run.
You’ve got to prepare like you normally do (against a starting
quarterback).”
Asamoah played the first six snaps from scrimmage
in his NFL career in last Sunday’s 29-22 win over Chicago. He could get
more action Sunday, with O’Connell saying the Vikings “want to be able
to mix Brian in there” because of his athleticism.
Another Vikings
defensive player who faced Thompson in college was defensive lineman
Ross Blacklock with TCU in 2019. In a 24-17 Wildcats victory, Thompson
threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 68 yards.
“Dude’s
got a cannon of an arm,” said Blacklock, who did have a sack of
Thompson in that game. “We’ve got to be best prepared. He’s definitely
in the NFL for a reason. We’ve got to go out and play our best ball and
make this team one dimensional, whoever’s playing quarterback.”
O’Connell,
a former NFL backup quarterback, said there is one significant thing in
Thompson’s favor. Unlike a reserve quarterback having to come in cold,
Thompson will have practiced with the first team throughout this week.
“They can prepare him to play a really good game and be really tough for us to handle defensively,” O’Connell said.
That
has happened before against the Vikings with a backup quarterback. Stay
tuned Sunday to see if the result is different this time.
