Brian Schottenheimer on Cowboys' backup QB race: 'We need to find out about Joe Milton'

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2025-08-12

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The Dallas Cowboys are still determining the best course of action behind Dak Prescott.

Joe Milton III played 59 snaps in Saturday’s first preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams, going 17-of-29 passing for 143 yards, a touchdown and an interception before exiting with an elbow bruise. Will Grier took over for the final seven snaps.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer explained that the reasoning behind Milton receiving the bulk of the reps is that the staff is still trying to get to know the young passer.

“I think our plan all along has been that we need to find out about Joe Milton,” Schottenheimer said, via the team’s official website. “Under no circumstance am I panicked or worried about Joe Milton. Joe Milton played really well in the second half, he did some really good things. He calmed down, he figured it out.”

Schottenheimer was on the Cowboys staff for three seasons before being elevated to the head coaching gig this offseason. He underscored that that time means he doesn’t need to learn Prescott or Grier as much as he needs to figure out what Milton does best.

“I need to get to learn him as the play-caller,” Schotty said. “I don’t need to learn Dak. I feel like I don’t really need to learn Will. So it’s more of that, it’s more of me having to learn Joe. I’m not going to say who the backup running back is right now, who the backup quarterback is right now, because I don’t have to make those decisions yet.”

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Milton’s first preseason start in Dallas began rough, as he missed passes and forced balls into traffic. His best action came on the move, where he rushed five times for 22 yards. The bulk of Milton’s production came in the second half, against many players who won’t make the Rams’ initial 53-man roster.

Prescott’s backup is one of the most high-profile jobs in America. The Pro Bowl QB has missed 26 games over the past five seasons. In that span, he’s only played a full campaign once. So, the odds suggest that the man who wins the Cowboys’ backup job will be asked to play at some point in 2025.

In one game as a rookie, Milton completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards and a TD in a Week 18 game with the New England Patriots against Buffalo. The 30-year-old Grier has two NFL starts to his name, both of which came in 2019 with the Carolina Panthers.