Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Keeping cool
Despite move into starting role and birth of son, veteran stays calm
Quarterback Moore takes eventful week in stride.
DAVIE — Matt Moore has had one heck of a week so far.
■ On Sunday, he became the Dolphins’ starting quarterback when Ryan Tannehill suffered two sprained knee ligaments against Arizona.
■ On Monday, Moore and his wife, Tara, had their third child.
■ On Tuesday, he was at the Dolphins’ facility preparing to start Saturday night against the New York Jets.
To Moore, who seems to handle everything with his laid-back, Southern California calm, it’s just another week.
“Everybody’s healthy, everybody’s good, and I’m here ready, focused on the Jets,” Moore said Wednesday.
“Any time you have a kid it kind of throws a wrench in there, [but] it’s been pretty normal,” Moore said of the birth of his son Wyatt. “Monday it was nice to have the day off, and then kind of got rolling. It’s been really normal, to be honest with you.”
Dolphins offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen spoke admiringly of the way Moore handled the birth of his child.
“There was no drama to it,” he said. “He just went in, had the baby, back in the office, had his notebook” by Tuesday afternoon, Christensen said.
Moore’s cool demeanor is perhaps why no one on the Dolphins (8-5) is freaking out that their playoff hopes rest on a quarterback
who hasn’t made a start in five years.
“Matt knows what he’s doing,” left tackle Branden Albert said.
Moore, who has a 13-12 record as a starter, seems to instill confidence in his teammates in practice and games.
Coach Adam Gase saw it when Moore finished the team’s 26-23 victory Sunday over Arizona.
“It was obvious that he went in that game and he knew what to do,” Gase said. “He knew where to go with the ball. He made plays, especially in a critical situation and adverse conditions. That was not an easy situation.”
Players saw the same thing Wednesday in practice.
“We were able to get some repswith him today at practice,” right guard Jermon Bushrod said, “and he took command of the huddle and seemed pretty comfortable.”
“He’s one of those guys that’s kind of a Pied Piper in the locker room,” Christensen said, “that guys are attracted to, and that guys enjoy being around.”
Moore and newly signed backup quarterback T.J. Yates were on the field after practice throwing passes and going over some of their technique.
Yates, a five-year veteran, hasn’t played since tearing his anterior cruciate liga- ment in December 2015 while playing for Houston. He will serve as Moore’s backup over rookie quarterback Brandon Doughty, the seventh-round pick from Western Kentucky and North Broward Prep.
Yates, who worked out for New England and Denver this year, said he hasn’t really “seen the light of day” while trying to learn the playbook since signing with the Dolphins on Tuesday.
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry isn’t concerned that Moore will be throwing him passes instead of Tannehill.
“I get paid to catch the ball,” he said. “I get paid to catch the ball regardless of who throws it, how it’s thrown, where it’s placed. It’s our job to make it right.”
That’s also Moore’s view of things. At some point during the week he’ll sit down with Gase and they’ll develop a game plan. Gase will ask Moore what plays he likes. That’s when Moore’s easygoing personality takes over.
“The easiest answer is, just call it and I’ll make it work, or we’ll move on,” Moore said. “But I have this fear of asking for something specific and having it not work out, so I just let him call it, and we’ll make it work.”
There’s no fear and no stress.
“I’ve done this before,” Moore said of being a replacement starter, “so like I said, I’m just trying to jump in and have these guys and myself really not miss a beat.”