Mike McDaniel’s Response to Dolphins-Daniel Jones Question Turns Heads

Getty Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel addressed whether his team is interested in signing free agent quarterback Daniel Jones.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has returned to lead the Miami Dolphins to three consecutive victories. But that doesn’t mean the Dolphins couldn’t be interested in signing a new veteran backup such as Daniel Jones.

McDaniel addressed the possibility in his November 25 press conference.

“Real talented player. His journey doesn’t seem to be foreign to the quarterback position. It’s a tough position to succeed at,” said McDaniel.

“Good luck to him.”

McDaniel avoided talking any further about Jones because “he’s not a player” on the Dolphins roster. His response also gave no indication whether the Dolphins organization is interested in making Jones part of the roster.

But McDaniel discussing Jones still got social media users reacting to the possibility of Miami signing the former top 10 quarterback.

“First … I don’t think he would sign with the Dolphins. I have been a hard ‘no’ on Daniel Jones. Yuck. Gross,” wrote Jarrod on X (formerly Twitter).

“But then I watched Skylar for one drive yesterday. I have 180ed on the idea. Skylar was yuckier and grosser. Someone pour me a double shot of bleach.”

“Dolphins or 49ers would be interesting,” wrote another X user. “Sucks it couldn’t have been when they needed him.”

The Dolphins don’t know when they might need to start their backup quarterback again. But other social media users weren’t sure Jones will really provide an upgrade.

“Is Jones better than Huntley?” Jon on X asked.

What Daniel Jones Could Bring to Miami Dolphins?

The New York Giants selected Jones at No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL draft. He has mostly struggled throughout his career, but in 2022, he led the Giants to a playoff berth and postseason victory.

During 2022, Jones posted a 67.2% completion percentage with 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He averaged a career-best 6.8 yards per pass.

Jones has also been a dual-threat throughout his career. He certainly was that in 2022, as he ran for 708 yards and 7 touchdowns.

In 70 career NFL games, Jones has averaged 5.5 yards per carry.

Jones is likely a superior option to Huntley. But that’s actually not the question to ask because Huntley is on injured reserve with a shoulder ailment.

Would Jones be better than Skylar Thompson, who is the current Dolphins backup quarterback?

In three games this season, Thompson has completed 21 of 33 passes for 187 yards. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per attempt with no touchdowns or interceptions.

McDaniel Still Trusts QB Skylar Thompson

For most, Jones versus Thompson isn’t a debate — the former is clearly the better passer and a superior runner.

The one advantage Thompson has over Jones is his nearly three years of experience in McDaniel’s complicated offensive system. But that won’t be worth much if Thompson continues to make mistakes as he did in Week 12.

On just a handful of snaps, he failed to execute a running back handoff, which led to a fumble and New England Patriots touchdown.

After the play, McDaniel yanked Thompson and re-inserted Tagovailoa to finish the game. But McDaniel made it clear on November 25 that he hasn’t lost faith in Thompson.

“Yeah, I trust Skylar,” McDaniel told reporters. “I think the situation this past game was unacceptable from just the whole unit. I think that from our perspective, I think across the board, that’s not to our standard, from the way we came of the huddle, to the execution of plays, and then to give up points on an offensive play.

“I won’t get into the nitty gritty. I’m not going to point fingers at the microphone, but ultimately that falls on everybody involved, including the coaches. We can’t have that collective effort that wasn’t him just responsible for. My reaction towards it wasn’t strictly based on him. It was more of a tonality to the whole thing.”