Miami's Teddy Bridgewater is not your ordinary backup QB
Teddy Bridgewater of the Dolphins walks off the field after the Cincinnati Bengals defeated Miami at Paycor Stadium on September 29, 2022. Credit: Getty Images/Dylan Buell
There are backup quarterbacks, and then there are quarterbacks who just happen to find themselves in a backup role at the moment.
Teddy Bridgewater of the Miami Dolphins, who will fill in for Tua Tagovailoa against the Jets on Sunday, is the latter.
He has been a team’s primary starter for four seasons in his career, including the past two – in 2020 for the Panthers and in 2021 for the Broncos.
Playing for Denver, he led a 26-0 victory over the Jets last season, going 19-for-25 for 235 yards.
Bridgewater, 29, spent the 2018 offseason with the Jets, who drafted Sam Darnold No. 3 overall that spring. They traded Bridgewater to the Saints before the opener, which solidified the rookie’s status as the opening day starter.
He threw only 23 passes for New Orleans as Drew Brees’ backup that season, went 5-0 in 2019, then landed with Carolina for ’20.
“We’re very, very confident in Teddy Bridgewater,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said on Monday, after he declared Tagovailoa out with a concussion. “It’s one of the reasons you decide to go that direction in an offseason and prioritize your backup quarterback is for these moments.
“We went out and signed him and it’s been one of the better things that could have happened for us . . . Everyone’s super-confident in him. He’s done it before. It’s a different deal coming off the bench than starting. Teddy knows that, and he’ll be fully prepared and ready to go, and I don’t think that the team will bat an eye when we lace them up on Sunday."
After Tagovailoa left Sunday’s game against the Bengals, Bridgewater went 14-for-23 for 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the 27-15 loss.
McDaniel, who worked with Jets head coach Robert Saleh in 2006 with the Houston Texans, said the Dolphins would try to cater some things to Bridgewater’s strengths, but added, “For the most part the aesthetic presentation should look very similar to what it looks like now.”
Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins was Bridgewater’s teammate with the Saints in 2018 and ’19, and before that played with him in college at Louisville.
“Ultimate competitor, a pro’s pro,” Rankins said. “He can run any offense, he can make all the throws, he can easily come in there and continue to keep that offense rolling and get the ball to their playmakers, which is what they want to do.
“He’s no slouch. There’s not going to be a drop-off. There’s not going to be going into this week thinking that he’s a weak link to that team . . He’s been a Pro Bowl quarterback in this league.
“He’s done it at a high level and he’s shown he can do it when given the opportunity, so for us it’s going to be about going in there and treating him as we would treat any other high-level starting quarterback in this league.”
Bridgewater will not lack for weapons. Receivers Tyreek Hill – whom the Jets nearly landed in an offseason trade with Kansas City – and Jaylen Waddle rank first and sixth in the league in receiving yards with 477 and 381, respectively.
“They’ve got a heck of a one-two punch at receiver,” Saleh said. “Their tight end’s really good, their backs are good, Raheem Mostert.
“I mean, it’s like a 4-x-100 relay team. So, we’re going to have our work cut out for us on defense and it’s a challenge we’re excited for.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
