Dolphins QB Thompson suffers 'painful' rib injury

SEATTLE — Miami Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson left midway through the third quarter of Sunday’s 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks after suffering what coach Mike McDaniel called a painful rib injury.

Making his first start of the season in place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa, Thompson took a hard hit on Miami’s second drive of the third quarter and remained down for several minutes while medical trainers attended to him. He was ultimately able to leave the field and return to the Dolphins’ locker room under his own power.

Third-string quarterback Tim Boyle entered the game for Thompson. Boyle was signed to the Dolphins’ practice squad prior to Week 1 and was elevated this past week after Tagovailoa was placed on injured reserve.

McDaniel said Thompson suffered a rib injury and wanted to play through it; ultimately, the Dolphins will not know the full extent of Thompson’s injury until Monday.

“I haven’t talked to Skylar as of the end of the game,” McDaniel said after Sunday’s game. “It was a rib injury that was pretty painful. And half the pain or half of the frustration for him, I think, was he was trying to find a way to not come out of the game. And ultimately it was pretty painful. He fought through it, but we’ll get a chance to look at him tomorrow.”

Before leaving, Thompson completed 13 of 19 passes for 107 yards. He was sacked five times in his fourth career start.

McDaniel didn’t reveal what the Dolphins’ plan is for the upcoming week if Thompson is unable to go for Miami’s home matchup against Tennessee next Monday night. Miami did sign Tyler Huntley off the Baltimore Ravens‘ practice squad last week, but he was not active for Sunday’s game. Huntley was listed as the team’s emergency quarterback.

Boyle completed 7 of 9 passes for 79 yards, adding a 6-yard scramble on the ground as well.

He nearly led the Dolphins to their lone touchdown drive of the day but threw an incomplete pass on fourth down at the Seattle 2-yard line; the Dolphins earned nine first downs in the game, four of which came on that drive.

“It’s an attitude game. Go out there, we’re down a couple scores. But you got to go out and prove what you’ve got,” Boyle said. “It builds a lot of character as a person, as a competitor. I’m glad we put a couple drives together. Obviously, we got stopped there on fourth down at the goal line. When you’re struggling like that, you’re trying to find completions, you’re trying to find positive yards and put a drive together.”

Boyle said nothing about his preparation would change if he were to start next week’s game against the Tennessee Titans; it’s unclear whether he or Huntley would get the nod in the event Thompson is not cleared to play.

The Dolphins will be without Tagovailoa for at least three more games after he suffered a concussion in Week 2. NFL rules state that any player on injured reserve must miss at least four games, but it is unclear when Tagovailoa might return. McDaniel has insisted that there is no timeline and that the team is simply focused on getting Tagovailoa healthy.

Tagovailoa remains in concussion protocol but was able to travel with the team to Seattle.

Thompson wasn’t the only Dolphins starter knocked out of Sunday’s game. Cornerback Kendall Fuller left with a concussion, and left tackle Terron Armstead was ruled out with an eye injury.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.