Quinn Ewers rebounds in second preseason game for Dolphins

Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel won’t overreact to preseason results — but those in Saturday’s 24-17 win over the Lions in Detroit certainly stand out.

Quinn Ewers threw two touchdown passes, both to undrafted free agent Theo Wease Jr., in a marked turnaround from a rough debut for the rookie quarterback in Miami’s first preseason game last week.

Ewers led a 17-play scoring drive with just under two minutes left in the fourth quarter to seal the Dolphins’ win, capping a performance from which McDaniel took notice.

“I thought there was some really good things he did, some things he could do better,” McDaniel said. “Basically, the journey of a quarterback is you have to learn to be able to take whatever reps you have, work on your own and apply it to your game. … It was cool to give him a couple opportunities that he made the most of.”

After completing just 5 of 18 passes for 91 yards in Miami’s 24-24 tie with the Chicago Bears last week, Ewers went 11-for-17 for 116 yards against the Lions.

Ewers started the second half and led Miami to points on three of his five drives. It wasn’t a perfect outing — he nearly threw an interception from his own 13-yard line on the second play of his final drive — but the seventh-round pick out of Texas said he and the Dolphins’ offense felt better prepared in their second outing.

“As a whole, I think we were just overall more comfortable,” he said. “Game 1, we kind of got our jitters out, and out here it felt like we were just able to go out and play our game and perform at a good level. There’s obviously a lot of room to grow — myself, I missed a couple throws, missed a couple reads, but there’s a lot of stuff to learn from this game.”

Veteran Zach Wilson started Saturday for Miami, completing 15 of 23 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown while playing the entire first half.

When asked about the team’s backup quarterback competition, McDaniel said this game’s results won’t necessarily determine the pecking order.

“I’m definitely not going to overreact to results, considering I talk about the process all the time,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is that you find things to see if guys can improve upon. Both of those guys have done a great job and Tua [Tagovailoa has] led the way. I’m not concerned about that at all.

“Guys are going to keep working and we need them to have their best next week.”

Tagovailoa did not play against the Lions, nor did most of the Dolphins’ starters. McDaniel did not say whether the starters would play in next week’s preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

McDaniel also said running back De’Von Achane and defensive tackle Zach Sieler would be out “between days and weeks” but isn’t concerned about either being available for the start of the regular season.

Achane’s ailment was described as a soft tissue, lower-body injury. McDaniel said Sieler could have played Saturday if it was a regular-season game.