MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Quinn Ewers is ready to get back under center.<\/p>\n
The Miami Dolphins quarterback hasn\u2019t started a game in almost a year, when Ohio State\u00a0beat his Texas Longhorns\u00a0in a College Football Playoff semifinal. That was months before Ewers was selected in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
Since then, the three-year Texas starter has spent much of his time buried on Miami\u2019s depth chart. That changed Wednesday morning, when coach Mike McDaniel announced that Miami was\u00a0benching struggling starter Tua Tagovailoa\u00a0in favor of Ewers for Sunday\u2019s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely have been through a lot leading up to where I am now,\u201d Ewers said. \u201cAt Texas, shoot, even in high school, I think that\u2019s all led me to where I am right now. And I just lean back on my faith and that foundation that I think I\u2019ve done a good job to build up and leaning into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dolphins (6-8) and Bengals (4-10) were both eliminated from the postseason with losses in Week 15, but both teams have insisted there\u2019s still motivation with three games left in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you get the opportunity to strap up the pads \u2026 and prove your worth through all the hard work that you\u2019ve put in, that\u2019s what we\u2019re all trying to do,\u201d said Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow. \u201cWe have three opportunities to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bengals made the playoffs in two of Burrow\u2019s first three seasons, including a trip to the Super Bowl in 2021 and AFC championship game in 2022, but they haven\u2019t made the postseason since. The Dolphins haven\u2019t won a playoff game since 2000 \u2014 the longest drought in the NFL \u2014 and have missed the postseason in two straight seasons.<\/p>\n
McDaniel said Ewers\u2019 decisiveness and confidence give Miami \u201cthe best chance to win\u201d on Sunday given Tagovailoa\u2019s struggles, which include throwing a league-leading 15 interceptions this season.<\/p>\n
Zach Wilson, who has been Miami\u2019s No. 2 quarterback most of the season, will back up Ewers. Tagovailoa will be the emergency third quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day that\u2019s our jobs, me and Zach, and any backup quarterback in the NFL,\u201d Ewers said, \u201cis to be ready when your name is called. I think I\u2019ve done a good job of studying even though I\u2019m not getting any reps with the ones prior to this week. I think I\u2019ve done a good job showing them that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cincinnati\u2019s defense has had positive stretches of play over the last four games, but the Bengals are ranked last in the league in overall defense, last against the run and in scoring.<\/p>\n
After Baltimore\u2019s Derrick Henry rushed for 100 yards last week, the Bengals have allowed six 100-yard rushers this season.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins run game was limited to just 63 yards against the Steelers last week, but Miami still leads the NFL in rushing yards per game (166.4) since Week 10.<\/p>\n
Getting the run game going could take some pressure off Ewers, who said he wants to play \u201cless frantic\u201d than he did in his limited snaps earlier this season.<\/p>\n
Center Aaron Brewer, a Dolphins captain, said he supports McDaniel\u2019s decision to go with Ewers and praised the rookie\u2019s playmaking skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe it was the right decision,\u201d Brewer said. \u201cI feel like the coach always (has) the best interest for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dolphins and Bengals may be out of the postseason running, but they still have a lot to play for. With Ewers at the helm, Miami is looking to end their season on a high note, while Cincinnati is trying to salvage what\u2019s left of their disappointing year. As the two teams face off on Sunday, it will be interesting to see how Ewers performs in his first career start and whether the Dolphins can capitalize on the Bengals\u2019 defensive struggles.<\/p>\n
Q: Who is starting at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday?<\/p>\n
A: Quinn Ewers will be making his first career start for the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
Q: Why was Tua Tagovailoa benched?<\/p>\n
A: Tagovailoa was benched due to his struggles, including throwing a league-leading 15 interceptions this season.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the current record of the Dolphins and Bengals?<\/p>\n
A: The Dolphins are 6-8, while the Bengals are 4-10.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Quinn Ewers Looks to Help Dolphins Beat Bengals in His First Career Start MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Quinn Ewers is ready to get back under center. The Miami Dolphins quarterback hasn\u2019t started a game in almost a year, when Ohio State\u00a0beat his Texas Longhorns\u00a0in a College Football Playoff semifinal. That was months before Ewers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/wsvn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/250509-Quinn-Ewers.jpg?quality=60&strip=color&w=1920&resize=1920,1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23572,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23569\/revisions\/23572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}