How Thompson won No. 2 Dolphins QB job. And special moments with McDaniel, his dad, White

Mike McDaniel can lighten the mood in any tense situation with humor.

But there would be no wise-cracking when Skylar Thompson was summoned into a meeting with the Dolphins coach and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell on Sunday.

Instead, there was a serious delivery of the big news — you’re our new No. 2 quarterback, Skylar — and an acknowledgment by the coaches of a job well done.

In a conversation with two reporters at his locker Thursday, Thompson described that meeting as an emotional exchange, “a really special moment for me. There wasn’t [any] joking. [McDaniel] was straightforward and sentimental, and it was cool. It was a special conversation with Bev and him, something I’ll hold onto for a long time.

“I was very thankful the way they handled it. What was cool for me is they’ve been around the block a time or two and… they could see the growth I made and the efforts I put into areas I needed to. That’s where the emotion came from, because they realize how hard I worked for this. No matter what they threw at me, they commended me for sticking with it and how I handled the adversity they put me through. That’s something they’re really proud of me for.”

What McDaniel and Bevell also “definitely communicated” in that meeting was “it was earned. For any player, when you earn something that means something. I’ve been raised that way. You work for everything. You earn it. Nothing is ever going to be given to you. That’s the approach I came in with this training camp and it paid off.”

McDaniel said in Thompson, “I see a better quarterback now than I did at the beginning of camp or last year or the year before.”

The process that led to Thompson eventually surpassing Mike White to become Tua Tagovailoa’s top backup actually began in January, when McDaniel and Bevell expressed in no uncertain terms where Thompson needed to improve after two seasons with the team.

Thompson took it very seriously. Besides doing everything he was taught mechanically, he knew he needed to play more “rhythmically,” as he put it Thursday.

“I was trying to get our footwork down and the timing of our offense and [trying] to do everything so well, that it felt like sometimes I was being a robot a little bit,” Thompson said.

He feared that he was “being stagnant and doing it exactly how the book says to do it” to his detriment.

His new objective was “just trying to let loose and trust the training and being more rhythmical and getting through my progressions. And not getting hung up on one [receiver]. Being able to progress and play more fluidly was something I really worked on this offseason.”

As McDaniel said, “he’s a very smart dude that sometimes as a young quarterback just in the system as a rookie, his mental speed is really fast and we were trying to catch his body up to it and that’s something he’s been working on diligently. And I think the proof is in the pudding.”

Thompson said he also worked to improve his “presnap operations, getting out of the huddle, calling plays, getting motions and everyone lined up right. Being able to operate in our offense, you have to be able to do that at a really good pace. I felt like I improved a lot. I was really proud of myself.”

In fact, there were “times in games in preseason I did something and I could feel myself getting better at something. It came to life. That was really cool to me going through this preseason.”

Another cool moment was calling his father Brad after that meeting with McDaniel and Bevell.

Brad Thompson raised Skylar, whose mother, Teresa, died from breast cancer in 2004, when Skylar was 6. Thompson also lost his grandfather, John Thompson, to pancreatic cancer, in 2003.

“I told [my father] the news that I got the two spot and we reflected on the journey and everything we went through, everything I went through as a kid and the traveling and everything he did to put me in position… to have the opportunity to fight for the No. 2 job.

“I have a great supporting cast around me. That’s what we talked about, just the journey. You guys know my story now. Some adversity I went through in my life. For me, the journey of life and my career, that’s what’s really cool for my dad and me to continue to share.”

Thompson reached out to someone else on Sunday: his former competition.

“I texted Mike; we talked,” Thompson said of White, who has since landed on Buffalo’s practice squad. “I told him I appreciated him. It’s a tough situation to be in because I care about Mike and want him to do well.

“I expressed to him I appreciate him and the way he handled it, the friendship and teammate he was to me. What’s cool about Mike is if you watch that Tampa Bay [preseason] game [when Thompson was very good and White struggled], I got thrown in there and had some success. Mike was cheering for me and being a great teammate. There are some people in that situation that wouldn’t handle it that way. That says a lot about him.”

McDaniel said the Dolphins emphasized trying to put Thompson and White in stressful situations in games and practices - whether that meant frenetic hurry-up drills, or working with backups or facing a heavy pass rush.

“Making it challenging, which was very helpful to me,” Thompson said. “One day with the twos, one day with the threes. It helped me stay prepared.

“You look at the past two seasons, they’re kind of two different [stories]. Rookie year, I got to play quite a bit and got some experience. Last year, I didn’t get a [regular season] snap. Last year helped me a ton, to step back and digest everything and learn and get practice reps.”

While Thompson took a moment Sunday to appreciate how far he has come as a seventh-round pick, he also knows this is no time to exhale.

“It’s just getting started,” he said. “[It’s about] staying hungry and staying confident and believing in myself. I’m just getting started.”