Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is keeping calm in the face of the results, but the 24-17 victory over the Lions in Detroit last Saturday certainly stands out. Quinn Ewers threw two touchdown passes, both to undrafted free agent Theo Wease Jr., showing a notable improvement after a difficult debut for the young quarterback in Miami’s first preseason game the previous week. Ewers led a 17-play drive that culminated in points with less than two minutes remaining in the final quarter, sealing the Dolphins’ victory. McDaniel praised his performance.
After completing only 5 of 18 passes for 91 yards in the 24-24 tie against the Chicago Bears last week, Ewers went 11 of 17 passes for 116 yards against the Lions. Ewers started the second half and led Miami to score points on three of their five offensive series. Although it wasn’t a perfect performance, he came close to throwing an interception on the second play of his last series from his own 13-yard line, the player selected in the seventh round of Texas said that both he and the Dolphins’ offense felt more prepared in their second game.“I think he did some really good things, and some things he can improve on,” McDaniel commented. “Basically, a quarterback’s path involves learning to take advantage of every repetition, working on your own, and applying that learning to the game… It was great to give him a couple of opportunities that he knew how to make the most of.”
Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins Coach
“Overall, I think we felt more comfortable,” he said. “In the first game, we got the jitters out, and here we felt like we could go out and play and perform at a good level. Obviously, there’s a lot of room for improvement, I myself missed some passes, missed some reads, but there’s a lot to learn from this game.”
Quinn Ewers, Miami Dolphins Quarterback
Tagovailoa did not play against the Lions, as did most of the Dolphins’ starters. McDaniel did not reveal whether the starters will participate in the last preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars next week.“I’m definitely not going to overreact to the results, considering I talk about the process all the time,” he stated. “I think the most important thing is to find things to see if the players can improve. They’ve both done a great job and Tua (Tagovailoa) has led the way. I’m not worried at all. The players will keep working and we need them to perform their best next week.”
Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins Coach
