MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., June 11 (UPI) -- Once perceived as a franchise savior, Zach Wilson is coming off a year in which he didn't take a snap. Now the quarterback, who is on his third team in three years, aims to "let it rip" as a Miami Dolphins backup.
Wilson made the comments on the second day of Dolphins mandatory minicamp Wednesday in Miami Gardens, Fla. The backup quarterback continues to show off his strong arm, but also piled up interceptions in sessions open to the media at the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Wilson, who spent 2024 with the Denver Broncos, says it's all part of his development within coach Mike McDaniel's supersonic offensive scheme.
"Every single day, that's what I'm working on," Wilson said. "The focus is to not care about much of the result, but everyday is my mindset shifting to playing with conviction and just letting it rip."
The Dolphins went into the off-season with an intent to address their quarterbacks room after more injuries to starter Tua Tagovailoa and lack of depth at the position played a large role in their lackluster 8-9 campaign in 2024.
McDaniel called Wilson a "direct, calculated target" in free agency. The Dolphins handed him a one-year, $6 million contract.
McDaniel said he watched all of Wilson's college tape from BYU while he was an offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. He also watched him become the No. 2 overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2021 NFL Draft and fail to fulfill his rookie contract.
Now he says Wilson learned from the turbulent start and put it behind him. He also cited how Tagovailoa got off to a slow start to his career, but later found the Dolphins environment helpful for his rebound. He hopes for the same for Wilson.
"What I see is a guy that is playing football with the empowerment 'I'm strong enough to handle anything," McDaniel said. "A guy like that, that's continually working on his craft, who has supreme arm talent, it's cool to watch him grow, particularly in our offense."
Because of Wilson's arm talent -- which was compared to that of Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, among others, during his pre-draft process -- he often throws later than Dolphins coaches prefer. But Wilson, who said he has never been told that previously, is now prioritizing launching his passes earlier into open spaces to anticipate teammates' speed.
"Go back to like John Elway and dudes with cannons," McDaniel said. "A guy with arm talent like that to challenge the play, the game of football, the quarterback position, the only reason I would even challenge him in that regard is because he has the power of, 'Yeah, this game adjustment, or what coach is asking of me is minuscule, rabbit pellets, relative.'
"He has exhibited that."
Wilson completed 57% of his throws for 6,293 yards, 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions through the first 34 appearances of his NFL career.
He started 13 games during his rookie campaign, which included a knee injury. He sustained another knee injury the follow preseason and appeared in just eight games in 2022. Wilson also was benched multiple times that season. He was set to back up Aaron Rodgers in 2023, before the veteran sustained a season-ending injury in Week 1.
Wilson went on to complete a career-high 60.1% of his throws for 2,271 yards, eight scores and seven interceptions over 12 appearances that season. The Broncos traded for Wilson last off-season, but he went unused as an emergency option behind starter Bo Nix and backup Jarrett Stidham.
Wilson, who is set to get married later this month, said he is now focused on personal enjoyment of his football journey.
"That's what I've tried to do since I went through the whole New York experience, tried to be more myself and focus more on enjoying the game," Wilson said. "Enjoying learning, enjoying the failures, the process, and everything that comes with it."
Tagovailoa, who has missed 16 games over the last four seasons because of various injuries, including multiple concussions, said Wilson has made "strides" behind the scenes in sessions not seen by the media.
He also touted the development of backup quarterback Quinn Ewers, a seventh-round pick by the Dolphins in the 2025 NFL Draft.
"With Zach being here, I revert to my first year with Mike [McDaniel] when he came here," Tagovailoa said. "In a way, this is kind of how it went for me a little bit. You've just got to build trust with the guys. Trust what the coaches are telling you.
"Trust what the coaches are teaching you because of previous scars that you've had."
