Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said it is too early to decide on a starting quarterback for their Week 6 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
The Dolphins currently have both starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater recovering from concussions, with third-string rookie Skylar Thompson being forced to play nearly the entire 40-17 loss to the New York Jets this past Sunday.
There is concern Tagovailoa actually suffered two concussions less than a week apart after being allowed to return to the Dolphins' Week 3 win against the Buffalo Bills despite showing symptoms, prompting the league to update their concussion protocol.
With the uncertain nature of concussions and their recovery period, McDaniel told reporters on Tuesday that they will wait until later in the week to decide who will start at the sport's most important position.
"It's too soon for me to really pinpoint [the starter]," he said. "I kind of have to wait and assess the whole situation, which I do not have in scope.
"What I do know is that Skylar will be practicing on Wednesday and hopefully Wednesday I'll have a better feel of the direction that we should go that's best for the football team.
"Being a backup quarterback in this league is not easy, and what people don't understand is you have a finite amount of reps during the week because you can't deplete your athletes and you can't have endless amount of reps.
"So typically, starters get anywhere from 80 to 100 per cent of the practice reps. So a backup quarterback, especially a rookie, it's a tremendous challenge because you have to own the whole game plan, visualize it, be able to call it, be able to line people up and then execute appropriately."
The inclination from McDaniel could be that the team will look for outside help at the position to avoid having to start their seventh-round draft pick, however teaching the playbook to a new signing in time for Week 6 is likely too unrealistic.