Tag: Mike White

UGA basketball faces talented UCF Knights in their exhibition match

The Georgia Bulldogs look to see where they are as the UCF Knights come into town.

In the third season under Mike White the Georgia Bulldogs has been labeled as a “sleeper” team this year in the SEC. In this exhibition match we can gauge on what this team is made of.

Georgia is playing a talented UCF Knights team that added Dior Johnson, JJ Taylor, and Mikey Williams via transfer portal. UCF also has returning guards Jaylin Sellers and Darius Johnson who averaged 15.9 and 15.2 points.

Update: Georgia defeated UCF 114-76.

To offset the guard duo for the Knights, the Bulldogs have their own guard duo. Arguably Georgia’s best perimeter defender, Silas Demary Jr., was All-SEC Freshman Team last season being the third leading scorer and rebounding with 9.7 points, 3.8 rebounds. Demary also averaged 1.4 steals per game. This offseason the development on his offensive game will be put on full display with the challenge of the Johnson/Sellers duo coming into town.

Alongside Demary Jr., Blue Cain was a player that came out on the scene that led to him getting an extended role as the season went along. Out of the six Bulldogs who shot over 100 three-point attempts, Cain ranked second with the percentage of 35.0% from three.

Cain’s shotmaking ability kept him on the floor and made him a very important piece for last year’s team. Cain now has a year under his belt, so expect him to not only be the teams best shooter but someone who can run the offense efficiently.

This offseason, Mike White and company signed their first McDonald’s All-American in Asa Newell. The five-star has been as good as advertised. In the first exhibition game of the season against Charlotte he was the leading scorer leading the team with 20 points. Newell will be relied on as the guy for this team to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.

Tua Tagovailoa not worried about Mike White spilling secrets to Bills

Former Dolphins QB Mike White is with the Bills now, but Tua Tagovailoa says that’s not a concern at all.

Less than a month ago, Mike White was prepping for his second season with the Miami Dolphins. The backup quarterback spent his days in the quarterback room with Tua Tagovailoa and he studied up on Mike McDaniel’s offense and playbook.

So are the Dolphins even a little bit worried that White is now a member of the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad?

“No,” said Tagovailoa on Tuesday.

Pressed to expound, Tagovailoa explained that there’s not a whole lot that White could do to prep the Bills defense for what’s coming Thursday night.

“We don’t really signal. The words, he’s not in our huddle with us listening,” Tagovailoa said. “And with all due respect, they can understand all the concepts we’re running, but are we running that concept on that play with what they’re trying to do?

“That’s just the whole game. We both got to go out and play, whether we know their signals, whether we know what they got going on and vice versa, at the end of the day, we both got to go out there and we got to go play.”

Yet, despite Tagovailoa’s insistence that White can’t do much to help the Bills, the Dolphins quarterback says he has a couple resources in former Buffalo defenders Jordan Poyer and Siran Neal.

“They know in the backend signals with what the Bills do and how they communicate things that they’ve done to stop us previous years,” Tagovailoa said of the pair of ex-Bills who signed with Miami earlier this year. “[I] can take a lot of the information that I’ve been given from those guys early in the week and apply it to Thursday.”

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Bills’ Mike White jokes about ‘one condition’ he had before signing

A good sense of humor:

New Buffalo Bills quarterback Mike White comes to his new team with past memories of them.

Note: They were not fond memories.

White was most recently with the Miami Dolphins before signing in Buffalo. Prior to that, he was with the New York Jets where he ended up playing against the Bills twice.

On one occasion at Highmark Stadium, White took a beating. Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver and linebacker Matt Milano laid insanely large hits on him. The one from Milano looked like a video game it was so booming.

White knew where he was signing because of those moments… but he managed to now make light of them.

Speaking for the first time as a member of the Bills, White said Oliver did apologize to him and then he joked about his “one condition” he had with the Bills before signing.

“I just can’t be locker room mates with Matt Milano,” White said.

Clearly a light-hearted guy, you have to give it up to him. He does play a hard-nosed style of football. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane acknowledged that was one of the reasons why he wanted to add White to the practice squad.

“We’ve obviously gone against Mike,” Beane said via video conference. “I think everyone in here is very familiar with his career, all the time in the AFC East. The thing I have always liked about Mike and respected about him was whether he started the game or came into the game, he came in guns a blazing. No fear.”

At least White can be happy that this mentality landed him a new job.

For more from White, see the attached Spectrum News clip below:

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How Josh Allen helped the Bills land QB Mike White

How Josh Allen helped the #Bills land QB Mike White:

Josh Allen got on the recruitment trail for the Buffalo Bills.

With the unknowns surrounding the knee injury sustained by backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, the Bills were in need of some QB depth behind Allen. Ben DiNucci took part in the preseason with the Bills but Buffalo let him go on roster cut-down day.

Enter Mike White.

White himself was released this week. After the Miami Dolphins let him go, he eventually said he got a call from Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane.

And then a text from Allen.

Speaking for the first time since signing in Buffalo, White said that Allen reached out after Beane and sent him a simple text. It was the ever-famous eyeball emoji.

White discussing Allen’s intervention can be found in the Spectrum News clip below:

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Bills announce full practice squad following roster cuts

#Bills announce full practice squad following roster cuts:

The Buffalo Bills initial roster is now fully set.

The team already announced their initial 53-man roster. The deadline for that was at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Those not included were subject to waivers and those who cleared had a chance to land on Buffalo’s practice squad.

That waiver wire was set for noon on Wednesday and has come and gone. Now we know who did get an offer to join the 16-man taxi squad.

Here is the Bills’ full initial practice squad:

  • QB Mike White
  • – RB Frank Gore Jr. 
  • WR Deon Cain
  • WR KJ Hamler
  • WR Tyrell Shavers
  • TE Zach Davidson
  • OL Richard Gouraige
  • OL Will Clapp
  • OL Mike Edwards
  • DE Kingsley Jonathan
  • DE Kameron Cline
  • DT Eli Ankou
  • DT Branson Deen
  • CB Daequan Hardy
  • CB Te’Cory Couch
  • S Kareem Jackson

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Bills sign former Dolphins, Jets quarterback Mike White

#Bills sign former Dolphins, Jets quarterback Mike White:

The Buffalo Bills have another new quarterback in town and he’s a familiar face from the AFC East.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills have signed Mike White to their practice squad. The decision curiously comes after roster cut downs in the NFL:

Teams across the league had to be down to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Tuesday. In order for the Miami Dolphins to get there, White was released.

To get down to 53 players themselves, the Bills released recently signed quarterbacks Anthony Brown and Ben DiNucci. For some, seeing DiNucci go appeared to be a sign that Mitchell Trubisky might be recovered from his knee injury by opening day, so a third quarterback might not be needed.

Signing White indicates that another QB was needed.

White, 29, was a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2018. White eventually made his NFL debut when he skipped to the New York Jets. In two seasons with the Jets, he started seven games and went 2-5, completing 62.2% of his passes for 2,145 yards with eight TDs and 12 interceptions.

Two of those came against Buffalo, but both ended up as Bills victories.

While in Miami, White only held a backup role.

Bills Wire will continue to provide all roster updates throughout the 2024 season.

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Former Dolphins QB Mike White lands on Bills’ practice squad

It didn’t take long for Mike White to find another job in the AFC East.

Mike White’s time on the free agency market was brief. On Tuesday, just two days after the quarterback was released by the Miami Dolphins, the 29-year-old veteran joined the Buffalo Bills as a member of the practice squad, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’ll be the third stop for White in the AFC East after he spent a three-year stint with the New York Jets earlier in his career. When he became a free agent in 2023, White signed a two-year contract with the Dolphins.

White played only one season on that deal and didn’t see much play time, as Tua Tagovailoa started all 17 games last year. White threw just six passes, completing five for 74 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

This summer, White was in a close battle with Skylar Thompson for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. After the latter put together a strong performance in the Dolphins’ preseason finale, White was released Sunday.

Buffalo has two quarterbacks on its active roster: Josh Allen and Mitchell Trubisky. The Bills also have Shane Buechele on their injured reserve.

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Dolphins begin cuts by releasing QB Mike White, TE Jody Fortson

The Dolphins got their roster trim started with a couple unsurprising decisions Sunday.

The Miami Dolphins have until Tuesday to cut their roster from 90 players to 53. They reportedly got started Sunday by releasing quarterback Mike White and tight end Jody Fortson, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Neither decision is particularly surprising. White was in a tight battle with Skylar Thompson for backup duties behind Tua Tagovailoa, but that competition ended Friday when Thompson excelled in the Dolphins’ preseason finale.

White’s contract also made him a likely cut, as the Dolphins will save $3.5 million by parting with the quarterback.

Fortson was signed by the Dolphins earlier this year after spending the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs. He struggled in Miami, though, and finished preseason with just two receptions.

Other tight ends buried on the Dolphins’ depth chart — like Tanner Conner and Hayden Rucci — had strong preseason showings, leaving little doubt that Fortson would be released before the end of August.

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Skylar Thompson made the Dolphins’ backup QB decision an easy one

The Dolphins’ backup quarterback decision looks like a no-brainer after Friday night.

The Miami Dolphins will likely wait until Tuesday to make their final decision about which quarterback will be Tua Tagovailoa’s backup this season. It seems like a no-brainer at this point, though.

Skylar Thompson’s performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be enough to give him the job.

Prior to the Dolphins’ first preseason game, coach Mike McDaniel said Thompson was “neck and neck” for the job with Mike White, the incumbent who won the battle in 2023. But after two preseason games, neither player did much to secure the role.

White completed 15-of-34 passes for 142 yards, while Thompson’s numbers were essentially the same with 16 completions on 34 attempts for 156 yards. Wide receiver injuries, backup offensive linemen, and coaches intentionally putting the passers in tough situations was largely to blame for the subpar performances. Still, neither stepped up … until Friday night.

After White showed more of the same, competing five of nine passes for 37 yards, Thompson lit it up Friday night. He led the Dolphins down the field on 70- and 76-yard touchdown drives with plenty of impressive throws along the way.

Thompson’s night ended with an ugly interception, but it didn’t erase the fact that — for the first time in August — one of the Dolphins’ two backup quarterbacks actually led the offense to some success.

“I think Skylar did a great job tonight,” McDaniel said after the game. “I thought that he was competitive, made some plays, and kind of got us going tonight.”

If Thompson’s breakout performance Friday wasn’t enough to make the decision easy, the money should. While Thompson is due to count $1,005,552 against the Dolphins’ salary cap in 2024, White’s cap hit is $5,210,000. Miami can get $3.5 million of it back by releasing White.

McDaniel wasn’t ready to make any final decisions Friday night after the game, but — lucky for him — it seems Thompson made it for him.

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Tua Tagovailoa defends preseason performances of Dolphins backup QBs

Tua Tagovailoa says backups Skylar Thompson and Mike White were in a “dicey” situation in the preseason opener.

There were plenty of positives from the Miami Dolphins’ 20-13 win against the Atlanta Falcons in their preseason opener, but the quarterbacks weren’t among them.

Skylar Thompson got the start with Tua Tagovailoa held out of action, but the third-year quarterback completed only eight of his 19 passes for 95 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Mike White took over in the second half, but managed to complete just four of his 14 passes for 26 yards.

“For everyone, [preseason is] to get the jitters out, for them to get back into the routine of things,” Tagovailoa said Tuesday. “I’m sure it was a little dicey for them getting out there because you’re getting new guys. It’s not the same guys as last year that are snapping to you, that you’re having to call the plays to, you’re having to tell what to do, so everything is new with the guys that they got to go with. I think they handled themselves really well, I think they did a pretty good job.”

The list of players out of action against the Falcons was lengthy. Offensive linemen Terron Armstead, Austin Jackson, Kendall Lamm, Aaron Brewer, and Isaiah Wynn were all out. Wide receivers Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Odell Beckham Jr., and tight ends Jonnu Smith and Durham Smythe didn’t play either.

“We had a rough, rough set of circumstances,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said after the game. “We were down in the second half to one tight end and one running back and we had a receiver that we just got on board two days ago, so it was a tough situation for [White] to be in, and I thought he maintained his composure, but we still have a ton of work to do.

Still, the “neck and neck” race between White and Thompson for No. 2 on the depth chart behind Tagovailoa didn’t have the most promising showing. Perhaps a more complete roster on Saturday against the Washington Commanders will allow one of the passers to emerge in the battle.

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