Dolphins bench Tua Tagovailoa, turn to rookie Quinn Ewers as starter

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins are benching Tua Tagovailoa and handing their starting quarterback job to rookie Quinn Ewers, per league sources.

According to a league source, Ewers had meetings with coaches late into the evening at Dolphins headquarters on Tuesday. Ewers will start Sunday against visiting Cincinnati.

Mike McDaniel opted for Ewers over veteran Zach Wilson, who has been the No. 2 quarterback for all but one game this season.

Tagovailoa threw for just 65 yards in three quarters on Monday and entered the fourth quarter with a passer rating below 50, the fifth time that has happened this season.

He padded his stats with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, after the Dolphins’ deficit had grown to 28-3, and finished the game with 253 passing yards and a misleading 113.2 passer rating.

‘Not good enough’

Tagovailoa has thrown a league-high 15 interceptions (compared with 20 touchdown passes) and his QBR in 30th in the league. He has won only three of his last 15 starts against teams with winning records, and Miami has failed to score more than 17 points in seven of those games.

“The QB play last night was not good enough,” McDaniel said of Monday’s 28-15 loss to Pittsburgh. “Everything is on the table. We have to have a standard at each position.

“There’s no one entitled to preferential treatment. When there’s a better option, it’s my job to attack that. Ultimately, there needs to be better play at that position.”

Ewers said recently that he appreciated the chance to serve as the No. 2 quarterback a single time this season; he completed five of eight passes for 53 yards in that game against the Browns.

“I think it’s a good thing that Mike did,” quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell said of that one week this season when Ewers was No. 2 and Zach Wilson was No. 3 on the depth chart.

“It keeps you on your toes. It keeps you competing. It makes you feel like the things that you’re doing are valid and are worthwhile and you’re not going through the motions and doesn’t let you get complacent. So I think it was a good shakeup.”

Where is he a better quarterback today than when he arrived? “Anticipation,” Ewers said.

"It’s such a timing offense we play in,” Ewers said. “I’m continuing to work hard on my footwork for every play. There are a lot of different setups, different footwork for each play.”

Bevell said two weeks ago that “Quinn’s doing a really good job. He’s working every day to get better, one, within our offense and then he’s getting reps on the scout team. We kind of switch up with [backup] Zach [Wilson] and Quinn for the reps on the scout team.

“Both those guys are doing a great job. There’s good competition between them. At the end of the week, I sit down and watch Quinn’s reps that he’s had and make sure that he’s getting coached, that it’s not just he’s taking these plays, and we’re never watching them again.”

Ewers waits his turn

Ewers, who has been the Dolphins’ No. 3 quarterback for the past five games, expressed appreciation for all that Tagovailoa and Wilson have done to help him.

He also admires the Rams’ Matt Stafford from a distance. “I grew up watching Stafford play,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I modeled my game after him. He plays the position the right way and is a good guy to watch. All younger quarterbacks should watch how he plays. He does it the right way.”

Ewers, the nation’s No. 1 quarterback coming out of Caroll Senior High in Southlake, Texas, spent one year at Ohio State but didn’t play and transferred to Texas, where he had 68 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in three years. Last season, he threw 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 65.8% of his passes. He slid to the seventh round in the draft, though many expected him to be selected earlier.

“I think all of us wish he would have gotten drafted higher, but at the end of the day if I could have picked a place that I think is a great fit for him, I think Miami is a great fit,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said after the draft.

“Systematically, what Coach McDaniel does is if not exactly the same very similar to what we do. There’s going to be a level of comfort for him in style of play. It’s a warm weather place. In the end, I think it’s a good fit for him. Now it’s about taking advantage about the opportunity that presents itself.”

On Ewers falling in the draft, the coach said: “I feel for Quinn. “He was a great player for us. I think about a lot of the people who have come into this program over the past four years that have impacted the growth and the trajectory of our program, and he’s right there near the top if not at the top with the impact that he’s had not only on the field but off the field. His ability to help recruit other players to come be part of our program.

“Through all this talk about collective and the things that were going on in the world of NIL. He never took money from our collective. All of what he did through NIL was his true name, image and likeness. The intent of the rule. On that front, I’m very grateful for what he did for our program.”

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