Dolphins forced to turn offense over to team’s third quarterback

Tim Boyle voluntarily describes himself as an NFL survivor.

That’s the mind-set an undrafted backup quarterback, who has existed on the fringe of a team’s roster since 2018, has to take to justify his nomadic existence, which has him playing for his sixth team in seven years.

“I’m chugging along. It’s been interesting,” Boyle said, describing his professional career, which began with the Green Bay Packers, the organization he spent his first three seasons with before playing in Detroit, Chicago, Houston, New York and now Miami, which had him signed to the practice squad until last Saturday.

Boyle was promoted to the 53-man roster to serve as Skylar Thompson’s backup in this life without Tua era of the Dolphins’ 2024 season. But when Thompson suffered a rib injury on Sunday he was pressed into action

“I’m proud of how I’ve been resilient. No matter the team I’ve been ready,” said Boyle, who has started five of the 21 regular-season games he has played in.

Unfortunately Boyle hasn’t won any of those games, and one of them was against the Dolphins in last year’s 34-13 win against the Jets, which featured Jevon Holland’s failmary 99-yard interception return, which came from a pass Boyle threw.

“From a preparation standpoint, and being a teammate standpoint, I try to instill my leadership,” said Boyle, who completed 7 of 13 passes, throwing for 79 yards in the second half of Miami’s 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. “Whether that’s on [practice] squad, or the backup, or the starter. There is definitely more out there for me in this league and I’m going to try to go get it.”

Yet another opportunity to “get it” likely presents itself this week for Boyle.

If Thompson indeed broke his ribs against the Seahawks, the Dolphins will be turning the offense over to Boyle, or fellow NFL quarterback journeyman Tyler Huntley, who joined the team a week ago, replacing Tua Tagovailoa on the active roster when Miami’s concussed quarterback was placed on injured reserve.

Because he’s beginning his fourth week in Miami’s offense Boyle probably has the edge over Huntley, a South Florida native who has started nine of the 20 NFL games he has played the past four seasons as a member of the Baltimore Ravens, the team Miami poached him off the practice squad to fortify the quarterback position last week.

Also, Boyle has been with franchises that run similar offenses to Miami’s, and use the same terminology, which gives him a leg up when it comes to playcalling.

“The different terminologies, I got to get used to. All of the presnap stuff, I just got to get in tune with it,” said Huntley, who has completed 64.6% of his passes, throwing for 1,957 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.. “It’s nothing. Football is football. I should be able to do it.”

What Boyle lacks however is Huntley’s mobility, which would give the Hallandale High product the ability to extend plays. Huntley averages 25.5 rushing yards per game, 4.4 yards per attempt on his 115 carries in the 20 games he has played.

However, head coach Mike McDaniel will probably lean toward not dumbing down his offense because that would make the Dolphins easy to game plan for.

Miami’’s offense is built on play action, and its foundation is RPO and West Coast concepts. It’s filled with motions and hot routes. That’s not something a player learns overnight.

“Being in similar systems, they saw the timing aspect,” Boyle said, referring to the need for Miami’s quarterbacks to throw the ball on time, which is what keeps this West Coast-based offense, which comes from the Mike Shanahan coaching tree, on schedule. “This offense revolves around timing, quarterback footwork, route depth. I’ve been around that. Just being on time and staying ahead of the chains is something they appreciated.

“However, none of that matters if you aren’t executing and you’re shooting yourself in the foot on drives,” Boyle said, referring to the 11 penalties the Dolphins committed, which routinely stalled drives. “You can’t put three points on board and expect to win.”

Many would say an NFL team can’t be starting its No. 3 quarterback and expect to win, but that’s seemingly the situation the Dolphins find themselves in until Tagovailoa is cleared to return.