Grier's Tears: 'Play Your A** Off!' Cowboys' Mike McCarthy Reacts To QB Moves

Heading into the Dallas Cowboys' preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, quarterback Will Grier knew it would be his last with the team.

After Dallas shockingly acquired former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance from the San Francisco 49ers, the Cowboys informed Grier that they would release him after Saturday's game. That meant that the game would be somewhat of an audition for the rest of the league, and Grier certainly put on a show.

The 28-year-old quarterback had one of his best NFL performances, completing 29 of 35 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers. Grier also impressed as a runner, racking up 53 yards and two more touchdowns on 10 attempts.

A teary-eyed Will Grier bid his farewell to Dallas in spectacular fashion on Saturday night, as he cemented a legendary preseason performance with 358 total yards and 4 total touchdowns in a 31-16 win.

His emotion was on full display after the game.

(Video via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/BGNZ4RfSMz
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) August 27, 2023

Grier didn't just prove he can play in this league, but had one of the most impressive performances by any player this preseason. In fact, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was so impressed that he boldly claimed Grier's performance was the best in the preseason in many years.

“For a preseason quarterback performance, that might be the best performance I’ve seen since probably 1999. Matt Hasselback had some of some of these,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy also recognized the tough situation Grier was in, but commended the quarterback for giving his all in his final game with the team.

“When I got the phone call, when I hung the phone up, and I called Will immediately, and that’s tough," McCarthy said. "And I thought he handled it very well, and you know, and I just asked him to go out there and, you know, play your a** off tonight. It’s a great opportunity, and just the way the team rallied around him at the walkthroughs and at The Star when we came out here this evening."

Grier has only appeared in two regular-season games throughout his four-year career, both coming in 2019 with the Carolina Panthers. Those two games did not go well for him, as he completed just 53.8 percent of his passes for 228 yards, no touchdowns, four interceptions and six sacks.

"It's been tough,'' the teary-eyed Grier said. "But I've been through tougher stuff ... I was motivated. ... A weird situation.''

Clearly, Grier faces an uphill battle to getting regular-season playing time again. If he keeps playing like he did on Saturday, though, he may have a chance.

You can find Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News

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