Read the full transcript from HC Jeff Hafley 's media availability on August 25, 2026

Just obviously linebackers has several injuries, Dodson we haven't asked you about. How serious?

Jeff Hafley: I saw him. He sprinted yesterday after practice. So he'll practice today unless there's a setback. He'll practice today. Is that it?

On that topic, still hopeful Jordyn Brooks will get in work before the opener? I know you said opener not in jeopardy for him.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I like where Jordyn's at right now. Do I think he'll be back this week? No. Do I think he'll be back next week? Yeah, I think he'll be. I think he's getting closer.

Do you have more clarity on Trey Moore's status?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, we can give you more clarity, which is what I was really surprised you didn't ask. Trey will have surgery, and I would be hopeful that he'll be back at some point this season, but it will be a while.

How about Kenneth Grant?

Jeff Hafley: Kenneth will not be around this week. I would say doubtful for the following week. I would say he's week to week.

Does Chris Bell have a chance to get some reps on Friday?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, he does. I can tell you're fired up about that. You guys saw yesterday, he was out of his red jersey. He did team, so he was in contact drills because we're thudding. The plan would be –  today we're going to treat like a Thursday in the season. Tomorrow we'll treat like a Friday in the season. So we'll have a pretty bigger load today in practice where he'll get more reps and hopefully he'll continue to progress forward. And if he continues to do so, then I'd like to see him play in the game.

Zeek Biggers has been practicing but he hasn't been playing in the game. Is that injury related or just you don't want to put him…

Jeff Hafley: It's kind of both. To answer your question truthfully, in the Washington practice he got banged up and I wanted to play him, but he was injured and could not. Then he had a good week and then he got a ton of reps in the Giants practice, and anybody who is over a threshold I held like the rest of those guys. So he was up in numbers, so we didn't feel we could get him out there. But he's healthy. So I would say to answer your question, Washington practice got hurt. Was dealing with something, we didn't feel comfortable playing him. Fine last week, but he was with those guys who had a ton of reps and we weren't going to put him in the game.

On Friday night, would you like to see the starters get some game action?

Jeff Hafley: Again, truthfully, I'm still kind of up in the air on that. In a perfect world, yeah, I would. And where we're at with some of the injuries right now, we've kind of gone back and forth with it. I would say that they need to be ready to play. I want to get through today's practice, tomorrow's practice, and then we have a walkthrough and see where we're at. But I also need to be mindful of where we're at with some of these injuries and kind of go from there. So I'm sorry, I can't give you a definitive on that right now, but in a perfect world in a training camp, I would. I just also have to make decisions on what's best for our team moving forward.

Any updates on Zach Sieler?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, Sieler is doing well. I think he's chomping at the bit to get back, and he's close. He's really close.

When it comes to your, I guess, eligible receivers – wide receivers, tight ends, running backs – where do you see the promise and the hope? Where do you see areas that need to improve or need work?

Jeff Hafley: Broad question, I think you look at some of the tight ends, like Dulcich, I think he's done a really nice job. Will Kacmarek's done a nice job in there with the tight end position. Seydou's been dealing with some bumps and bruises, so I'm sure some of you guys have seen that he has not been out there as much. But he's a capable guy, especially in the pass game, so hopefully he gets healthier. And then the receivers, there's some guys who've had really good camps. There's been some guys who've had their ups and downs. I mean, you've seen some remarkable catches. You've seen consistency with a guy like Malik Washington. You get a guy like Kevin Coleman who's been kind of in and out with injuries, and then he's kind of flashed in that game like he did. He ran by a bunch of guys, and he made a really good catch on the sideline. You had two rookies in back-to-back games make two pretty impressive catches. Obviously Chris (Bell) is back. I think there's certainly promise and excitement there from everybody, but we haven't really got a chance to see that firsthand yet. And then you got guys like JT (Jalen Tolbert) and Tutu and Reagor and all those guys that are battling. I think we're in a position right now, which probably is a little bit different than most of the league, but we still really got to use this week to evaluate some of these guys. I mean, that's just the truth of where we're at right now. This isn't like take your foot off the gas and camp's over and we got our 53. There are some guys we got to continue to evaluate, and there are some guys that are going to have a great opportunity on Friday and they need to take advantage of it.

Is De'Von Achane the best eligible receiver of that group?

Jeff Hafley: I think he's pretty good at everything he does.

Regarding JuJu Brents, what are some strengths and what are some points of emphasis in coaching that you have for him specifically?

Jeff Hafley: Well I think one, we need to get him out on the field, which you'll see him out there today, which is huge. I mean, throughout his career, he's dealt with injuries, so we need to see him consistently play and be available. If you just look at him as a corner, he's got incredible size and length for that position. And you combine his size and his length with his foot speed the ability to transition and he's a physical guy who will tackle, he looks the part, right? And I've seen flashes of it. We need to see the consistency just because he just really hasn't been out there. The thing that jumps out in my mind is usually when guys are that long, they need to learn how to use their length consistently to their advantage. So I just need to see more of him so we can coach him up more. But I am excited that we're going to get a chance to do that soon.

What have you seen out of Carlos Washington Jr.? He seems like a guy that has been steadily improving in practice.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, he's a guy that's kind of just quietly had a good camp. He's explosive. He runs hard. He's got a good center of gravity. He can break tackles. He just works. I have a lot of respect for how he's approached every single day. He just puts his head down and goes.

What do you need to see in this final preseason game or what do you hope to see from the players that are still fighting for those roster spots?

Jeff Hafley: One, I want to see them continue to strain and play hard because that's really important to me, but then the execution and the details, we got to move forward. We can't have penalties; we can't have missed assignments. And then you got to execute. I need to see some production, too. I mean, someone's got to separate themself as we go and have to make some of these really hard decisions that are kind of still up in the air. It's who's going to take a step and who's going to be able to show us that we can trust them to go into the stadium and do their job at a high level. And that's why where we're at right now, I think it's exciting that we do get another opportunity. So whether or not we play the starters or not, this is going to be another important evaluation like all of these are.

Not a football question, but Udonis Haslem was at practice yesterday, they posted on social. Did you get to meet him? Did he get to talk to the team?

Jeff Hafley: He came by yesterday. I met him, we spent about a half hour together. Just got to know him. I mean, what an incredible story. Obviously he grew up here, played at Florida, went undrafted, went overseas and then to play for 20 years and win three championships and to have his jersey retired, really cool story. Incredible human. I mean, he is made of everything that's right. His drive, his motor, understanding his role, just being there for his teammates. I could have listened to him for a long, long time and I plan to stay in touch with him. I think he's a great guy to talk to, and he gave a lot of great messages to our team. I think he was very relatable to our team, and I think a lot of his messages and I think a lot of his story pertains to a lot of guys that we have right now and what we're trying to accomplish. Probably one of the best talks I've heard in a long time.

Can you tell us what the theme of this message was?

Jeff Hafley: I can, I'll save that for our team though.

How different is it – because you're describing Zach Sieler when you talk, minus the championships. So how different is it when a guy from another outside sport comes in across the team as opposed to one of their own teammates?

Jeff Hafley: I think it's different, right? They don't know him personally, so you take that away and then you put up a video of them before you introduce him, and he's making two huge shots to win a championship and he's got three rings. It's not a story – he's up there and he's not sharing a story how he was a first round pick and how life was easy for him and he was the star of the team and he was an all-star. It wasn't like that. It's about how hard he worked. It's about all the sacrifices he made. And it was hard, and it was probably a different story than most people hear when you think of a superstar type player. I just think that's very relatable to our guys. I think anytime you can hear kind of the same messages but from different voices of guys who have had success, I think that's huge. I mean, he was great.

Are you viewing QB2 as a continued competition that has not yet been decided?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I think so. Quinn really hasn't been able to go very much. He was out there [yesterday]. Cam obviously played a lot last week, and we're hopeful that those guys will be able to go again on Friday.

Coach, you've been upfront about this week's tone in practice shifting. Specifically with Malik Willis within that shift, what do you want to see from him this week?

Jeff Hafley: Kind of like I'm saying the same thing, just can he take another step? Can he take another step with the playbook? Can he take another step with the execution? Can he take another step as the leader of the offense? And then can he start to become a leader of the entire team? As he gets more confident and gets a better feel for the players, especially when we get down to the 53, a lot of the times that's easier. Your 90 becomes 53 and it's a smaller group of guys, and just the connection with some of the new guys. His connection with Kevin, his connection with Bell and just continue to build on that. I think he's a guy that has gotten better every single day, and he's just been unfazed. He's the same person. You can't rattle him, I'm pleased with where he's at. I think it will be a work in progress for the rest of camp, but I'm excited where he's at.

Do you and Sully believe that you have enough quality at safety to efficiently get through an NFL season?

Jeff Hafley: I think we're still evaluating that, I mean if I'm just going to be completely honest with you, like I try to be. I think for a lot of positions, you could ask that same question. And I think for where we are right now, we're evaluating that for a lot of positions. That's why this week, this is an important week for the evaluation process. And I think safety is one of those positions where we're still trying to figure that out.

Regarding your backup offensive tackles, Caden Wallace, Charlie Heck, Kevin Cline, Marques Cox and Gottlieb Ayedze. What have you seen from them? Does anybody have a spot on the 53 right now? Which I know that's a tough question.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, you know I'm not going to answer that question for you, but I appreciate you trying. (laughter) I like to answer almost every question you guys give me, but you're not going to bait me into that one. Just need more consistency. Again, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything or give you some BS answers, it just needs to be more consistent. It needs to be more consistent from a fundamental and technique standpoint. It needs to be more consistent from an assignment standpoint. And when we get out on the field, they have to be able to do their job at a high enough level where we feel like we can put them in a game. And it's another position where kind of like I just spoke about, that's we're still evaluating that right now.

I wanted to ask you about Kenneth Grant. Is there a concern about him being available for the season opener, or is this just something that we're resting?

Jeff Hafley: Well again, he's week to week, so I think of course there's going to be concern. If I felt like he was going to for sure be back next week, I would tell you that. Am I hopeful he will be? Yeah, but there's always going to be concern until I see a guy out there. Not to like give you an unanswered question, but that's the best I can do on that one. So while I'm hopeful he'll be out there, until he has his helmet and shoulder pads and he's practicing with us, I'm going to have concern, for sure.