Skylar Thompson hoping for third opportunity to prove he’s an NFL quarterback

Tua Tagovailoa won’t be the only injured Miami Dolphins quarterback returning to active duty in Sunday’s home game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Skylar Thompson has been practicing without limitations a month after breaking his ribs in Miami’s 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, and is expected to resume his duties as the team’s No. 2 quarterback.

Thompson has participated in many practices this past month, but was never healthy enough to actually play in a game, even though he consistently held the role as Miami’s No. 3 [emergency] quarterback.

The former Kansas State standout the Dolphins selected in the seventh round of the 2022 draft has gone from struggling to throw the football 10 yards, and being unable to run without pain to unlimited activity this week.

“I feel like I’m back to being myself,” said Thompson, who won the backup quarterback job in training camp and the exhibition season by beating out veteran quarterback Mike White. “It feels good to be back out there and moving around again. I’m full-go. I haven’t had any setbacks.”

For the first time, Thompson revealed he broke his ribs late in the first quarter of that Sept. 22 loss to the Seattle, on the drive after cornerback Kader Kohou pulled down an interception.

Thompson said he got hit on a third-down throw and tried to soldier through it, continuing to play. But with each hit — and he took three brutal shots to his chest the rest of the game — the pain in his ribs got worse.

“I’m excited to be back. That was a tough loss the last time I was out there. It was frustrating,” said Thompson, who finished that game completing 10 of 16 passes, throwing for 79 yards (74.7 passer rating) in his three quarters of work. “For me, when I face adversity I want to go attack it and that was tough because I couldn’t do anything. I had to sit on it.”

It’s possible Thompson’s period on ice might come to an end soon.

The shoulder injury Tyler “Snoop” Huntley suffered to his throwing arm last Sunday in Miami’s 16-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts has kept the three-game starter from practicing this week, and it’s been Thompson and Tim Boyle who have handled the backup and scout team duties, along with C.J. Beathard, an eight-year veteran who was signed to the practice squad on Wednesday.

Outside of Tagovailoa, who is expected to play his first game since suffering a concussion in Week 2, Thompson has a superior understanding of Miami’s offense when compared to Boyle, so it’s likely he’ll regain the backup role.

Thompson said this past month his focus has been to control what he can, get healthy, and prepare himself as if he’s the next man up again.

“If that time comes, I’ll be ready to execute the plays,” Thompson said.

According to Thompson, he should have operated Miami’s offense faster against the Seahawks, and plenty of the situations he found himself in were “preventable.”

What the Dolphins have learned in his absence is that his replacement, Huntley, struggles with similar issues. The Dolphins have always maintained that when healthy Thompson would regain his status, and now he’ll possibly get a third opportunity to prove he’s an NFL quarterback.

“Everything happens for a reason and I just have to use it to make me stronger, make me better,” Thompson said. “I’ve just got to learn from my mistakes. Learn from them and get better.”