As the NFL’s regular season approaches its final three weeks, the playoff races in each of the league’s conferences appear to be heading down to the wire.

Although they’re tied with the Denver Broncos at 8-5 for the final wild card spot in the AFC, the Miami Dolphins ran into troubling luck this past Sunday when they lost starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a pair of sprained knee ligaments.

Backup Matt Moore led the team past the Arizona Cardinals in the second half after Tannehill’s injury, earning the starting job for the time being.

The Dolphins announced Tuesday, however, that they signed former UNC standout TJ Yates to play behind Moore for the rest of the season.

A fifth-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2011 after a highly productive career in Chapel Hill, Yates has had experience in similar situations throughout his professional career.

During his rookie season in Houston, starter Matt Schaub was injured heading into the playoffs–leaving Yates to start his team’s most important games of the year.

He helped lead the team to victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round, before eventually losing to the Baltimore Ravens the next week.

Yates saw limited playing time in Houston over the next two seasons. He then went on to backup Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons in 2014–throwing just four passes during his stint there.

After returning to the Texans last season–where he led them to a win over the Bengals in relief of Brian Hoyer, and defeated the Colts and Jets during his two starts–he has yet to play in the NFL in 2016.

A major role for the Dolphins is not expected to be in the cards for Yates, but injuries are common enough in football that he could very well be thrust into the playoff spotlight yet again.

Should that happen, Tar Heel fans are well aware that he’s certainly capable of getting the job done.

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