Mike McCarthy raves about Will Grier's performance in Cowboys preseason game

After missing his first opportunity to play in the preseason, Will Grier made his Cowboys debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Chargers. He helped Dallas to their first win of the preseason with a 32-18 victory in LA. It was a performance head coach Mike McCarthy says he was proud to see because of the way Grier carried himself.

After the game, McCarthy described Grier’s play as ‘gritty’ and said he thought he had a real command while out on the field.

“I’ll tell you man, what a gritty performance,” said Mike McCarthy. “I thought (Grier) did great. Just a gritty performance. It was good to see him in command and running the offense. It was his first real opportunity in this offense, and I thought he did a really nice job.”

Grier had suffered a minor groin strain during training camp with Dallas but was able to make it back for this contest. While he may not have even been 100%, he went out and threw 6/10 for 98 yards. The former 2019 third round pick out of West Virginia hasn’t seen much action during his time in the league. However, he handled his business this weekend and said it just felt good to be back on the field.

“It felt good to get out there and play a little bit…No anxiousness at all but that was tough missing some reps,” said Grier. “But I felt comfortable from snap one today and to get some live reps. These guys hadn’t seen me play live, so just (me) showing I’m confident out there and can make some plays.”

Grier is fighting for his opportunity to be the Cowboy’s backup behind Dak Prescott. He’ll have to prove he’s both healthy and capable of outplaying Cooper Rush in order to do so. With continued success in camp and their final preseason match this week, he’ll have his chance to earn that designation from McCarthy.