MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins signed veteran quarterback Mike Glennon to their practice squad Wednesday amid injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater.
Tagovailoa has been out since suffering a concussion in a Week 16 loss to Green Bay. Bridgewater, who started in last week’s loss to New England, injured the pinky finger on his throwing hand and couldn’t finish the game.
Coach Mike McDaniel has not named a starter for Sunday’s pivotal regular-season finale, in which the Dolphins could make the playoffs with a win over the New York Jets. Miami would also need New England to lose to Buffalo.
After starting the season 8-3, Miami has lost its past five games.
McDaniel said Bridgewater’s availability is uncertain — he can barely throw the football — which is what led the team to sign Glennon.
Bridgewater lightly tossed the ball only a couple yards during the portion of Miami’s practice that was open to the media Wednesday, and he took shotgun snaps without throwing. Tagovailoa was not at practice Wednesday.
It’s not the quarterback situation the Dolphins envisioned entering a must-win game in Week 18, but it is one that has been an all-too-familiar theme for Miami this season.
Tagovailoa suffered his first known concussion of the season after a scary hit against Cincinnati in Week 4 and didn’t return until Week 7. The hit in Cincinnati came four days after he was allowed to return to a game against Buffalo in which he appeared disoriented when getting to his feet after a hit.
The NFL then altered its concussion rules mandating that any player who shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — sit out the remainder of a game. Those revised rules affected Bridgewater, starting in Tagovailoa’s place, on his first snap against the Jets in Week 5. A spotter reported seeing Bridgewater stumble after a hit, which was enough to get him pulled.
The Dolphins lost all three games that Tagovailoa missed with injury, including a Week 6 loss to the Vikings in which rookie Skylar Thompson made the first start of his career before exiting early with a thumb injury. It was the third straight game that a Miami quarterback had been injured.
Thompson entered last week’s game after Bridgewater got hurt and completed 12 of 21 passes for 104 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He said afterward that he only had about two warm-up throws before coming in.
Thompson will presumably make his second start of the season Sunday.
“Skylar does his best — like most quarterbacks, but especially young in your career and in Year 1 of the system — he does best with practice reps,” McDaniel said. “And I think we saw a taste of that against Minnesota until he got injured. I think he has an athletic component to his game that sneaks up on people because he does most of his work in the pocket.”
Glennon, who said he got the call about joining the Dolphins while taking his son to basketball practice, most recently played for the Giants in 2021, starting four games. He has made 31 starts in 41 appearances with stints in Tampa Bay, Chicago, Arizona, Oakland and Jacksonville.
“He’s a quarterback through and through,” McDaniel said, “has been through multiple systems, understands what it takes for him to be able to speak the language in a fast amount of time, and I think he plays the position aggressively with toughness that I really respect.”
NOTES: LT Terron Armstead (toe/pec/knee/hip), LB Bradley Chubb (ankle/hand) and CB Xavien Howard (knee) are progressing, according to McDaniel, but did not practice Wednesday. All three players missed last week’s game.
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