Dolphins add fifth quarterback to team because of injuries

The Miami Dolphins’ carousel of quarterbacks continued to churn on Wednesday as the team added NFL veteran C.J. Beathard to the injury-plagued quarterback room.

Beathard, an eight-year veteran who has played in 32 NFL games, was signed to the Dolphins practice squad on the same day Tua Tagovailoa was returning to practice after being placed on injured reserve because of the concussion he suffered in week two, and three days after Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, the starter for the past three games, suffered a injury to his throwing shoulder in Miami’s 16-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Beathard has history with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel from the time he spent with the San Francisco 49ers, whom he played for from 2017-20.

He’s completed 340-of-563 passes (60.4 completion percent), throwing for 3,886 yards with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions during his NFL career.

Beathard will likely spend the week working as Miami’s practice squad quarterback while Skylar Thompson continues to rehab broken ribs he suffered in week three. Thompson is throwing and running during the portions of practice the media watches, but hasn’t completely regained his range of motion.

Tim Boyle, who replaced Huntley against the Colts and has spent the past month as Miami’s No. 2 quarterback, will likely serve as Tagovailoa’s backup if Huntley and Thompson aren’t cleared to play.

The Dolphins also signed receiver Tarik Black to the practice squads. He’s played for four NFL teams, but appears in only one game back in 2021 for the New York Jets. Ironically, Black has no returner experience in college or the NFL. That’s important because Miami lost return specialist Braxton Berrios to a season-ending knee injury.

It’s possible that Dee Eskridge, a fourth-year veteran, could be called up from the practice squad for a third, and final time this season.

Miami waived tight end Hayden Rucci, and Carolina poached defensive lineman Jonathan Harris, which made two spots available on the 16 player practice squad.