After last weeks disappointing performance in the Miami Dolphins preseason Week 1 contest, some thought the murmurings of a backup quarterback battle in South Beach were all a lie. But after Quinn Ewers’ big bounce back outing this weekend, he has drawn a little bit closer to former first round pick, Zach Wilson.
“This might be a quarterback battle, after all — backup quarterback, that is,” ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques writes. “Miami signed Wilson to be its backup quarterback this season, and the team will likely keep three passers, but Wilson has not run away with the job, and Ewers is steadily improving as he learns this offense.”
Zach Wilson played a great first half, completing 15 of 23 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. Ewers took over out of the halftime locker room and the Dolphins offense couldn’t stop putting points on the board. He completed 11 out of 16 for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns, finishing the day with a 123.7 QBR and a win over the defending NFC North champions.
Head coach Mike McDaniel himself told the media Saturday that this battle isn’t over quite yet.
“I’m definitely not going to overreact to results, considering I talk about the process all the time,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is that you find things to see if guys can improve upon. Both of those guys have done a great job and Tua [Tagovailoa has] led the way. I’m not concerned about that at all.
“Guys are going to keep working and we need them to have their best next week.”
Quinn Ewers Speaks On Bounce Back Performance
The first preseason game of Ewers’ career was bad, very bad. The rookie faces major scrutiny for what appeared to be an inability to perform at the NFL level after completing just 5 of 18 passes for 91 yards against the Chicago Bears.
He needed a bounce back performance more than anyone, and thats just what he got. After the game he attributed the game 1 troubles to nerves.
“As a whole, I think we were just overall more comfortable,” Ewers said. “Game 1, we kind of got our jitters out, and out here it felt like we were just able to go out and play our game and perform at a good level. There’s obviously a lot of room to grow — myself, I missed a couple throws, missed a couple reads, but there’s a lot of stuff to learn from this game.”
Zach Wilson Good Game Overshadowed
It’s much mor exciting to talk about the promising rookie than it is the disgraced former starting quarterback, but Zach Wilson deserves his flowers too. He took the Dolphins first team out against the best of the rest for the Detroit Lions and led multiple impressive drives.
His arm talent was on display and his legs stole the show, escaping pressure, moving around the pocket, and delivering strikes on the run.
However, a few mistakes, including missed touchdowns and bad reads, showcased why Wilson finds himself in a backup role in this league. He has a long way to go.
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