The Miami Dolphins have announced a quarterback change.
Head coach Mike McDaniel benched starter Tua Tagovailoa after Miami’s eighth loss of the season.
But instead of elevating Zach Wilson, who has been No. 2 on the depth chart for the majority of the season, rookie third-string quarterback Quinn Ewers will start in place of Tagovailoa.
“I needed more convicted play from the quarterback position. I thought Quinn could deliver on that best,” McDaniel said in his press conference Wednesday.
He also noted that Wilson “as a competitor, was very disappointed” about the decision.
How Zach Wilson feels about still being the backup
Wilson told Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that he was “frustrated” and “maybe a little confused as well” that McDaniel passed him over for Ewers.
“Of course I would love to play,” Wilson said. “...I can’t control that. My job is to go out and do the best I can. Keep preparing …. getting better, supporting Quinn. Excited for him to get his first start.”
Wilson said he received “a little bit” of an explanation from McDaniel in regard to the decision.
“There’s still confusion there. But you know what? That’s how it goes sometimes,” he said.
Wilson, drafted No. 2 overall by the New York Jets in 2021, was traded to the Broncos in April 2024. He spent the 2024 season as the third-string quarterback and never took a snap.
In March, Wilson signed a $6 million one-year contract with the Dolphins to back up Tagovailoa.
Just three weeks later, McDaniel said Wilson was a “direct, calculated target” for the Dolphins in free agency and that Miami “thought that he was the best option for us,” as the Deseret News previously reported.
A month after signing Wilson, the Dolphins drafted Ewers in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Will Zach Wilson ever start for the Dolphins?
On Sunday, Wilson will be Ewers’ backup against the Cincinnati Bengals while Tagovailoa will be the team’s emergency quarterback, McDaniel said, per The Miami Herald.
Wilson said McDaniel told him there is still a chance he could take the field this season “depending on how things go,” though there are only three games left in the season.
“That just goes without saying. It’s always a competition. You would hope all these organizations would want to play the best player and try and win,” Wilson told Jackson.
The former BYU quarterback described this season in Miami as “eventful.”
“Guys have been great and I appreciate the organization bringing me here,” he said. “It’s definitely been tough. I don’t think the season has gone as we all had hoped. Wish we could have pulled out some more wins and things had gone a little smoother. And of course, I would like to be playing, but it happens. So we’ll go from there.”