Dolphins lose Skylar Thompson to injury, then game to Vikings

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Thompson left the game in the first half with a thumb injury and was not able to return.

Thompson appeared to hit his hand on a Vikings defender's helmet while attempting a pass in the second quarter. He left for the locker room and didn't come back until the third quarter.

The seventh-round pick threw for 89 yards. He would have stayed with Thompson if he had been able to go, but he didn't have the strength to hold the ball.

Teddy Bridgewater finished the game in place of Thompson, completing 23 of 34 passes for 329 yards, two touchdown and two turnovers.

It was the third week in a row that the starting quarterback couldn't finish the game. Tua Tagovailoa had a concussion in Week 4 and was placed in concussion protocol.

Miami started the season with three straight wins, but has since lost three in a row. The team's quarterback luck is not the cause of the losses according to the coach.

He challenged the guys not to see it as a reason for X, Y or Z. We have a lot of faith in all the players that we have on this team, and the quarterbacks that we've been working with since last April, any one of them we have high expectations to succeed." It isn't ideal. You don't want the guys that get all the reps during the week to not play.

I want the team not to point at that as a reason for the loss. That is the easiest thing to do. The path of least resistance doesn't lend results that the organization wants. There are always difficulties within the games of the National Football League. I believed we had the ability to overcome that.

The other Dolphins players left the game with injuries. Both Flowers and Crossen were injured and did not return.

According to a source, Tagovailoa is expected to start next week against the Pittsburgh.

Without him, the Dolphins have struggled to score.

He wouldn't take the easy out of blaming Miami's quarterback injuries for the team's three-game losing streak. It's not ideal, but he's confident that the Dolphins can right the ship with their next five games against teams with losing records.

I don't have to worry about how players are, how the organization is, how the coaching staff is or how people are going to respond," he said. The great thing about the game of football is that we will find out. You are checked by it. We fell short as a team because there was nowhere to hide. One of my favorite things about football is that it isn't for everyone, and this is difficult, but so. In the last three games, we've finished a game with a different quarterback than we started with. So, and? I don't think anyone has the mindset that we're losing because of that.

We are able to win this game. That is obvious to everyone. A simple formula is what it is. You can see the tape. You are not hiding from it. Push forward to the end of the season to use the learning experience to get better.