Sept. 16 (UPI) — The Miami Dolphins signed Tyler Huntley off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad as a backup to Skylar Thompson during Tua Tagovailoa’s injury absence, coach Mike McDaniel said Monday.
McDaniel said the Dolphins have not decided whether to place Tagovailoa, who remains in the concussion protocol, on the injured reserve list.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m just worried about the human being and where that’s at day-to-day,” McDaniel said of Tagovailoa.
McDaniel said the Dolphins need to gather more information from medical experts regarding the third documented concussion of Tagovailoa’s career. He then plans to discus the situation with the quarterback and general manager Chris Grier.
“We are not quite ready to make a distinction on that,” McDaniel said, when asked about moving Tagovailoa to injured reserve.
“Could or couldn’t, we’ll see in the next coming days.”
A move to injured reserve would result in an absence of at least four games for Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins quarterback completed 17 of 25 passes for 145 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions in Thursday’s loss. He completed 23 of 37 passes for 338 yards and a score in the Dolphins’ Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Thompson completed 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards against the Bills.
Huntley completed 56.8% of his throws for 203 yards and three interceptions over five appearances last season for the Ravens. He completed 67% of his throws for 658 yards, two scores and three interceptions over six appearances in 2022. Huntley also ran for 137 yards and a score that season.
Huntley appeared in 20 games, including nine starts, over his first four seasons with the Ravens, serving as the backup to two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
“This is not a direct reflection to Skylar as Tua’s backup,” McDaniel said. “This is more for the depth. I do think that it helps the dynamics of the room to give another guy with starting history to this team and gives an added addition of a guy that’s a signal caller a team can get behind.”
Quarterback Tim Boyle remains on the Dolphins practice squad.
The Dolphins will face the Seattle Seahawks at 4:05 p.m. EDT Sunday in Seattle.
