The Miami Dolphins have Josh Freeman and McLeod Bethel-Thompson battling with Matt Moore to stick around as the backups for Ryan Tannehill this season and both players will have to play better in the preseason to make the final roster and this comes as Kenny Stills returned to practice after an injury, while DeVante Parker is making progress from surgery.
The Dolphins QB situation is firmly settled at the top, as Ryan Tannehill signed a contract extension this offseason and will be in Miami long term. The Dolphins brought in Bethel-Thompson and Freeman this offseason as options for competition with Matt Moore and there is a chance the team keeps three QBs on the roster. According to Pro Football Talk, Freeman was released and then later signed again and he has not looked great in the preseason or in training camp.
Freeman was just five of 16 in the game against the Bears and he had 76 yards passing with one interception. Bethel-Thompson was not much better with two picks, 71 yards and five of 12 completions and both players will have to show improvement to stick around. Moore is likely going to be the backup unless is thoroughly outplayed and right now that doesn't look likely. Moore completed four of nine passes in the game and had 43 yards against the Bears.
The Dolphins offense is strong at the top with Tannehill and the team is expecting more consistency this season. The team has Kenny Stills back in practice after he was dealing with a calf injury and he reportedly looked good, with Pro Football Talk reporting that he caught a deep pass in 7-on-7 drills from Tannehill. Stills is one of the new additions to the team and he comes in after being acquired in a trade with the Saints. Last season Stills had 63 catches for 931 yards and three touchdowns.
Jarvis Landry returns after a strong rookie season and DeVante Parker is looking to get healthy after having foot surgery. According to the Miami Herald, Parker was expected to be out for 3-4 more weeks near the beginning of August and that would put him on track to start the season in Week 1. The Dolphins are preparing for Parker to play and they expect him to be a significant contributor this season.
Freeman has not played in an NFL game since 2014 with the Vikings and that came after his fall from being the starting quarterback of the Buccaneers. Freeman had a solid rookie season and then threw 25 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2010 and it looked like he would be a success for a while. But Freeman had issues with turnovers and while he had 27 touchdowns and 4065 yards in 2013, he also completed just 54 percent of his passes and had 17 interceptions, which came after putting up 22 picks the previous season. Freeman will have to shape up to make it as a backup for the Dolphins.
Check here for more on the injuries for the Dolphins and more on the QB battle.