You never forget your first. Unfortunately, Ian Book’s debut will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Book had every reason to fail against the Dolphins Monday night and that’s precisely how it played out with the fourth-round pick cratering to the tune of 135 yards on anemic 12-of-20 passing, continuing a string of impossibly bad luck for Notre Dame quarterbacks in the NFL.
Book, who began the year fourth on New Orleans’ quarterback depth chart, was massacred for eight sacks in the losing effort. He was also intercepted twice with one of those miscues resulting in a pick-six.
It was carnage from the opening snap with Book looking predictably overmatched against one of the league’s best defenses. The first team in NFL history to endure a seven-game losing streak and a seven-game winning streak in the same season, the Dolphins were led by Jaylen Waddle, who torched New Orleans for 92 yards and a touchdown in his return from the COVID list. The sixth overall pick added 10 catches to his season total Monday night, leaving him six shy of the rookie record established by Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin in 2003.
Book would be wise to stay off Twitter for a few days with fans and media piling on after his dreadful performance against Miami.
It wasn’t Book’s night, but as the 23-year-old’s Dolphins counterpart Tua Tagovailoa would attest, they can’t all be winners. Few players have been subject to the level of scrutiny Tua has experienced in his early Dolphins tenure, constantly looking over his shoulder (Miami was one of several teams pursuing Deshaun Watson, even with knowledge of his alleged sexual misconduct) while having the unenviable distinction of being drafted directly before Chargers prodigy Justin Herbert.
Quarterbacks spend their lives under the microscope with bad press from media talking heads considered a rite of passage in the NFL. But as Tagovailoa conveyed to Book Monday night, one bad game is no reason to be discouraged. Tua has taken his lumps—many were calling for him to be replaced by Jacoby Brissett amid the Fins’ seven-game losing skid—and so will Book.
Props to Tua for taking Book under his wing, reminding the rookie, amid the embarrassment and frustration of his dud against the Dolphins, that better days are ahead.
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