Kuechly said Thompson recognized the Miami formation and had good pre-snap communication with Kuechly.
“He knew what was coming. He had a good alignment. And the toughest thing is, obviously he was where he was supposed to be, but it’s making the tackle,” Kuechly said. “You can be in the right position, but you don’t make the tackle and it doesn’t matter. But he was able to capitalize on the position.”
“He’s good,” Kuechly said. “I think with Shaq, and I’ve said it, he’s a guy who works hard, humble, he’s willing to ask questions, he flies around and that’s a great combination for him. With the limited amount of snaps he’s gotten in OTAs and camps and the game, he’s done a great job so far.”
On the Dolphins’ next possession, Thompson (6-foot, 230) was in man coverage on Cameron, a Pro Bowler who was flexed out along the Miami sideline and a ran a go route. Thompson matched Cameron stride for stride, and stuck his hand out just as Tannehill’s pass arrived to prevent Cameron from pulling it in for a touchdown.
Thompson also covered Dolphins wide receivers on a couple of other snaps.
“The thing that’s really exciting is the athleticism is exactly what we saw,” Rivera said. “We actually matched him on a wide receiver a couple times and when they came out in two tight ends and flexed one of them, we matched him on the flexed one.
“These are all the things we talked about early when we first drafted him. Now this gives us the flexibility with how we can attack (teams).”
Another part of Thompson’s skill set will be kept under wraps until the regular season. After the Panthers drafted Thompson, Rivera talked at length about how he could help in blitz situations.
“It was nice to see,” McDermott said. “He played in the box. He played on the edge a little bit. He ran with the tight end down the sideline.”
