Mike McDaniel had a decision to make Saturday. He knows by now you can’t talk a team’s desired identity or reformed culture into existence. It has to be created with work, not words.
That’s why he practiced two days and played Saturday’s exhibition against the Detroit Lions. How better to move your identity from finesse to physical than working against one of the toughest teams led by a coach who professes to eat kneecaps?
Only on Saturday, in a workout of mostly backups, McDaniel dropped the demands toward a newer, tougher identity in the first half.
The Dolphins ran just five times for 6 yards.
Quarterback Zach Wilson, meanwhile, passed for 23 times that half, completing 15 or 151 yards and a touchdown.
McDaniel’s intentions were as clear as his play calls. He wanted the roster’s second most important player to get in a good day’s work.
Wilson’s individual development in this offense was more important Saturday than the larger team’s daily, seasoning process toward a changed identity as shown by a big running game. That’s because three of the past four seasons have involved Tua Tagovailoa injuries that meant the season’s fate fell to his backup.
That’s why Wilson is watched closer than any backup in the league. It’s why this decision is more important than any made this Dolphins offseason.
Here’s the good news: He was more comfortable in the offense than last week in Chicago. Maybe it was just knocking off some rust since he didn’t throw a pass in Denver last season. But Wilson was better Saturday than a week ago in the tie against the Bears when he wanted several passes back.
This time, it was just a couple of passes, including a deep pass on first down — just the way the Dolphins’ identity was the past couple of years. That one was so severely underthrown a would-be touchdown to Dee Eskridge became an incompletion.
“I think he did a good job handling their early looks, where they were kind of playing zone for man alignments and vice versa,” McDaniel said after the Dolphins’ 24-17 win. “There were a couple plays that he could get better from, for sure, a couple plays that I was very impressed that he made.”
It’s a tough translation, judging how Wilson’s preseason play with backups projects toward how he could be in the third regular-season game, as was needed of backup Skyler Thompson last season. It’s easier to see there’s problems at cornerback, that the defensive line is deep, that there are backup receivers with some talent and the backup offensive linemen protected him well.
Wilson and McDaniel talked of improving the “operation,” of getting players in and out of the huddle, even while more work needs to be done on getting everyone aligned properly. Good, fundamental quarterback work for the backup. That’s what Saturday’s main project was about.
McDaniel has to get to know Wilson, too, in workouts like this. What patterns he likes to throw. Which plays he can work. McDaniel handed him the offense to run from long balls to receiver screens to a toss sweeps to a receiver in motion.
It was Eskridge getting the ball much of Saturday’s first half. He muffed a punt, then did just fine with three catches for 53 yards. His good toss-sweep run was called back by penalty. Tight end Tanner Conner had six catches for 48 yards, too.
This is Wilson’s backup job, too, no matter how rookie Quinn Ewers fares. Ewers was fine Saturday, filling the second half in a more balanced offense. Ewers threw 17 passes for 116 yards, and the Dolphins ran a more responsible 14 times for 92 yards in that second half.
So, Ewers recovered from his first preseason outing, but Wilson has been Tagovailoa’s understudy since he was signed for $6 million. You can see why McDaniel wanted a former No. 2 draft pick of the New York Jets.
You also can wonder why Denver coach Sean Payton made him the third quarterback last year behind Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham. Payton wanted Stidham this offseason, too.
So, Wilson isn’t a sure thing. Payton might have seen something he wasn’t sure about. Or Wilson could be the next Sam Darnold or Geno Smith, a quarterback leaving the New York Jets and recapturing a good career. Maybe that starts right now.
Saturday was about building Wilson’s comfort and confidence in a workout live workout. He threw 23 times and handed off just five. One run was a third-and-one dive by Jaylen Wright that needed measurement before ruled a first down. Whew.
Developing a new, physical identity with the running game matters, McDaniel has decided since last season. But Saturday had another demand. The state of the backup quarterback was more important to get ready to go..
Originally Published: August 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM EDT