{"id":261946,"date":"2025-08-04T20:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/261946\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T20:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:44:13","slug":"dolphins-qbs-coach-talks-zach-wilson-quinn-ewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/261946\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins QBs coach talks Zach Wilson, Quinn Ewers"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Miami Dolphins<\/a> rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers has had his moments early in training camp, but coach Mike McDaniel, last week, essentially shut down \u2014 for now \u2014 any idea he could supplant Zach Wilson for the backup job<\/a> behind starter Tua Tagovailoa.<\/p>\n

McDaniel left the door slightly ajar if Ewers were to stand out to such a level he earns that role, but it\u2019s smart for him to stick with the passer he and general manager Chris Grier targeted to play the vital role of Tagovailoa\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n

Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, on Monday<\/a>, touched on both why Wilson was that choice and what potential Miami coaches see in Ewers, the seventh-round draft pick out of Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see the talent,\u201d Bevell said of Wilson, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft. \u201cYou\u2019re a high, top-five draft pick for a reason. He definitely has the skill set. He definitely has the arm strength, the arm talent. You see some of the special throws that he can make in practice. That\u2019s the No. 1 starting point, is just the talent that he has. He\u2019s an athletic kid, as well. He can move around. He can save plays if you need him to.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wilson also has what Bevell referred to as \u201cscars\u201d from years past with the New York Jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere some see that the guy\u2019s done, we see the opposite, where we really want to take tools that he had,\u201d said Bevell, who has worked with Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford and Trevor Lawrence before landing in Miami and assisting Tagovailoa\u2019s turnaround.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we thought \u2014 some of the same vein as Tua \u2014 people think Tua couldn\u2019t play, and you see how he\u2019s playing now. We wanted to be able to do that with Zach and see if we can help him function within our offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

But many hear that and might think Wilson is still a project \u2014 when the Dolphins needed a proven backup to handle quarterbacking duties if the oft-injured Tagovailoa was hurt again.<\/p>\n

\u201cZach\u2019s played a lot of football,\u201d Bevell countered. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of games under his belt where he was the starter, where he\u2019s played, has had games where he\u2019s played well. We can\u2019t do anything about the past. We can only do (something) about the future and what we see, and each and every day, he\u2019s come out here and worked well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bevell discussed what the Dolphins saw in Ewers after he slipped in the draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just like his demeanor,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s very calm, cool. Got a little swag about him. He doesn\u2019t get rattled. That\u2019s a really good starting point for the quarterback position. He sees things really well. He can anticipate really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He graded Ewers\u2019 arm strength and accuracy: \u201cHe\u2019s been really good in both of those. His accuracy has been good, and his arm strength \u2014 he\u2019s not Brett Favre, Matt Stafford, in that category \u2014 but he has plenty for what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Special teams developments<\/p>\n

The Dolphins are carrying two punters on the roster during camp as Ryan Stonehouse, who has been with new special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman in Tennessee, battles with incumbent Jake Bailey for the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Jake and Ryan are doing a great job right now. I think it\u2019s been a really healthy competition between those two,\u201d said Aukerman, noting the two were tracking just about even on their punts.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown how deep into camp the competition will go and whether the two will punt in preseason games.<\/p>\n

Aukerman likes what he\u2019s seen from second-year wide receiver Malik Washington in the return game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll see (Tyreek Hill) or Jaylen (Waddle), but we\u2019ll do anything for our team to win football games,\u201d he said, \u201cand if we have to have those guys back there, I\u2019m sure (McDaniel) and I will have a good dialogue about that too and see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing out on special teams is a way to earn a roster spot in the NFL, and Aukerman offered insight on those who are practicing well.<\/p>\n

For one, safety Elijah Campbell has impressed as a gunner running down punts to cover returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to find another gunner,\u201d Aukerman said.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Ethan Bonner, with his speed, is a candidate for a job in that role. He also can come off the edge on field goal and punt block units.<\/p>\n

Aukerman mentioned linebackers Tyrel Dodson, K.J. Britt and Cameron Goode and rookie safety Dante Trader Jr. as other special teams standouts.<\/p>\n

Tyreek the student<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, a nine-year veteran, turned heads when he said he\u2019s taking notes in team meetings<\/a> for the first time this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t here in the past and I don\u2019t know what they\u2019ve done,\u201d first-year wide receivers coach Robert Prince said, \u201cbut yeah, they have a notebook and you know we start our meetings and I always tell those guys, \u2018Hey, take your notebooks out because maybe I might say something that might be earth-shattering.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always talk about taking notes helps crystallize the thoughts in their minds. So we have those guys write things down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bobby Slowik effect<\/p>\n

Hill said Bobby Slowik<\/a>, the first-year senior pass game coordinator, has been great \u201cas far as route detail, where to be at for the quarterback. I think he has done a great job on simplifying for me and Waddle and then also the other guys on just this offense, because at first, I\u2019m going to be completely honest, I didn\u2019t understand the offense for the first three years of me being here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince said Slowik can fill in gaps and detail things for the wide receivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with Bobby, he\u2019s very familiar with this offense, with his time coaching (with McDaniel) in San Francisco, so he\u2019s very familiar,\u201d Prince said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes he\u2019s able to bring some of the nuances of the pass game and coaching the details of some of the plays, so it\u2019s been really good to have him here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Dolphins, on Monday, placed undrafted rookie tight end Jalin Conyers on season-ending injured reserve. With the roster spot, they brought back tight end Chris Myarick. Myarick mostly held a spot on the practice squad in 2019 and 2020. In the 2021 preseason, he made a game-winning touchdown catch against the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: August 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers has had his moments early in training camp, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,216,251,2087,6,1849,1733],"class_list":{"0":"post-261946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-dolphins","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-dolphins","12":"tag-miamidolphins","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-quinn-ewers","15":"tag-zach-wilson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114972450228247539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}