Read the full transcript from HC Jeff Hafley's media availability on August 7, 2026.

I know you still got one today, but what are you looking forward to for the stadium practice and getting the guys in that setting?

Jeff Hafley: I am looking forward to today. Today is going to be a hard practice. Today's a high day. Today's going to be a lot of unscripted, move the ball, see where it lands, coaches call it, players respond without having the script because sometimes when you go into practice, the offensive or defensive coaches can hand them the script. They can look at the plays, they can think about, oh, I'm in on this play, they can run it; where today's really the first time that we're going to do a lot of we're just going to call it like a real game and they got to think and respond, and the coaches have to do the same thing. So first things first with today. Today is going to be a long, hard practice, and I'm looking forward to see how they respond to that. And then it will be fun to get into the stadium. Really it will be my first time in there in really any mode on the field, so I'm excited for that. But it won't be like going through a game routine and doing the stretching and all that. I don't want there to be any distractions and I don't want to take away from their routine. I think it will be fun for the players with some fans there. It will bring more excitement, more energy, more juice, closer to a preseason game. Maybe some of the young guys will have some anxiety, but besides that, we have a lot of work to do and we cannot afford to make that anything else but a hard, good, productive practice.

Are you happy with what you've seen so far? Are you happy or satisfied with what you've seen so far from the team?

Jeff Hafley: There's a lot of aspects I'm really happy with and I am very satisfied with, and there's others where we have a ways to go, if I'm going to be honest with you. I think the buy-in, the attitude, the effort, the strain, the how hard they're trying to do all the little things that we ask to do. Guys are showing up on time. They're where they're supposed to be. I think they're connecting. I think we're building the foundation as far as our culture goes and what it wants to be, but we've got work to do. We've got work to do as coaches. We've got work to do as players, scheme details, consistency. Just like everyone else around the league, there's injuries where you're trying to find out your depth. So I think there's some things, yeah, like there's some nights I go to bed and I'm like really proud of where we're at and how hard we're working. And then you wake up and you're like, okay, we got a long ways to go. So it's kind of a balance.

Can you give us an update on Dante Trader? We noticed he didn't practice yesterday.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I would say he will not practice today. He'll be more day to day. I'm hopeful we'll get him back next week. There's nothing long term with him.

I'm curious with the cornerbacks, I know you had Revis a couple times, Sherman, Haden; with those guys, is there a common thread or anything you learned specifically from those great corners that you try to apply to this group or in the past?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, not only are they like the best to ever play at their position – I mean, you mentioned one guy who's in the Hall of Fame and another one who will be in the Hall of Fame. It's their mindset. Take away the talent. Like those are some of the most talented guys to ever play the game. I just think it's their mindset. When you think back to Revis and Sherm and some of those other guys you mentioned, it's the way they approach every day. It's if a ball was ever caught on them, it wasn't okay. Like it was not good. If they missed an assignment or the receiver – even I remember in scout team if the receiver didn't give them the precise look, they had a problem with that because they wanted to be perfect and they wanted to get better and they wanted to be challenged. And if it was a walkthrough and I was like, 'All right, guys, this is a period where let them catch the ball. It's a walkthrough.' That wasn't okay with them and regardless of what I said, they just had this mindset that they weren't going to lose. They were going to compete on such a different level than everybody else. And I just think that's really rare, and I think that's what separates the really talented players, because there's a lot of them, from you're talking about Hall of Fame guys. I was very fortunate to be around a bunch of those and throw Ronde Barber into the mix, another Hall of Famer and you learn so much from them, not only how they play on the field but how they approach the game. And those real guys will send you videos and texts at 11 o'clock at night, and they're studying and they want to be better and they want to know about their opponent and there's just this, it's just a different mindset that they have.

I've got a social media question. I found out yesterday there's a group of your players that have decided to stay off of social media right now. You were a college coach. You're an NFL coach. So three things. Is there a difference between college players' and NFL players' use of social media? What do you tell your players in general about social media and what have you told this group during training camp about social media?

Jeff Hafley: Well, there's certain things I don't want posted whether they're in the building or in the locker room or things that we say or things our coaches say. I think that's really important, what's said here stays here. This is a place where I want people to feel comfortable that what they can say is going to stay in the building and that's really important to me, just like pictures in our locker room or pictures in our space. I think it's a very private space. And really, that's all that I touch on. When I have one on one meetings with guys, I mean, going back to college, there's so many guys that would come in my office and I'd be like, what's going on, man? What's wrong? And it's social media. Guys are destroying them. Guys are beating them up. The whole world's telling them they can't play, and that's when you really have to pick guys up and you try to tell guys to stay off of it and not listen. But let's be real. That's so much easier said than done, right? Like some of that, regardless of whether it's somebody who one, isn't their real name; two has nothing to do or has no idea of what's really going on, but they're beating him up and all of a sudden the list grows and it's out there and it becomes real and it sticks in their mind. These guys, they've got feelings and sometimes they get beat up a little bit. I think in college it was probably bigger, but I'm sure a lot of these young guys, it's still the same thing. Then it goes the other way, right? You play a great game and then you turn on social media and what does it say? You're the best player in the world and he should get the ball more and this and that. And you're going to be a Hall of Famer and this guy's going to win the Heisman Trophy and this team's going to win the Super Bowl. So there's such a balance where I think we as coaches need to help them understand, and there are a bunch of young guys that I've talked to and I've had conversations. As soon as the season hits, I delete social media just because I think regardless, it's outside stress, whether it's from the media, whether it's from someone who I've never met in my life, whether it's a family member critiquing me, it's just none of it's worth it. So it's just a clear head and I think a lot of our players have done that and hopefully more will.

A few more injury questions. We saw Kevin Coleman and Ben Sims weren't out there. What's their status?

Jeff Hafley: Ben will be day to day, and I would say Coleman will be day to day, too. None of those guys are going to be long term. They will not be out there today.

I remember back at the scouting combine you talked about Chop Robinson working to become a three-down player. And everyone we ask about him around here compliments his offseason body transformation. How would you say you've seen him grow outside of his pass rush?

Jeff Hafley: Confidence. He's starting to believe in himself and I think his teammates are starting to believe in him, and I think that's huge for all of our players. He's been more aggressive. You can tell he's having fun with it and he's playing faster. He's playing more physical and he's playing more aggressive, and he's taking steps every day to become a complete player. I think it's important to see he continues to do that and has consistency. The Washington practice, I think those will be key for him. But I think it's confidence and I just respect the way he's gone about his business.

What have you seen so far in camp from Zayne Anderson, and how is his two years of experience with you in Green Bay, if at all, kind of shown up in aiding the install on defense?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I think there's a lot of similarities in what we did in the two years in Green Bay and here now. There's a lot of new stuff, too, but he's got a grasp on really how I kind of think and how I see things in the back end and he's hearing me give him a lot of the same coaching points, because I'm in that room a lot, and I was in that room a lot. So he's hearing a lot of the same things from year three now. I think there's a comfort level that he trusts me and I trust him. At the same time, there's really good competition in that room right now and I will say, Zayne has done a nice job. Again, he needs to be consistent and the Washington week, it will be exciting to see him go up against another team and play in these preseason games. But he's become a dependable guy back there.

Can you speak to Chris Bell's progress and is he nearing a potential activation?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I'm sure you guys saw him running yesterday, right? Chris is progressing nicely. You saw him run yesterday. I mean, he's accelerating. He's decelerating. He's able to cut. I think that's a credit to Chris how hard he's worked. I think it's a credit to Kyle (Johnston), our training staff. I think it's a credit to Todd (Hunt), our strength staff. And you know, I would say this: we want to be certain that he is ready so he does not have setbacks early in his career. Is it going to be day to day? No. Do I think it's going to be long term? No. Does that answer the question exactly how you want it? No. (laughter) He looks good though, doesn't he? You can say yes.

Does it benefit you to see him at training camp or exhibition season, or can that be a situation where you wait from a precautionary standpoint?

Jeff Hafley: That would be a huge benefit, right, to get him comfortable and if possible, to play him in a preseason game before he has to actually go out and play in real games. Yeah, that would be huge. Do I hope that happens? That would be amazing. Am I confident that will happen? I'm not sure yet, but that would be a very, very big benefit for him to start getting some work in a preseason game.

Is there a player that has pleasantly surprised you so far?

Jeff Hafley: Oh, that's a good question. I think there's probably a couple guys. I'd rather not single anyone out right now because I don't want to go down that road of someone getting angry with me. There's been a bunch of pleasant surprises. I'm just not going to go into detail on them.

What are you looking for out of a player like Willie Gay? Like you see him consistently make plays. Not consistent, but we see him make plays in practice. He doesn't necessarily always receive like that elevated role. So I'm curious what would you like to see out of him?

Jeff Hafley: The same I would like to see in everybody – consistency in the details of the scheme. I think Willie has done a nice job and I think just like everywhere else, as you guys watch right now, guys are moving up and down. Guys are going with the ones, twos, threes, threes, twos ones. There's a lot of competition. I think the key with Willie and with all of our players is being detailed consistently within the scheme and the process has to be right. And I jokingly made this comment with Taaffe the other day – and I don't say this about Willie, I say this in general – the results in practice might look like, 'wow, like he just made a great play, he just made a great play'. But it's got to be bigger than that. Like defense is about we need to be where we're supposed to be. We need to do what we're supposed to be. And then we got to make plays when they show up. So it's just a consistency in doing that over and over and over again, and you got a chance to play. Willie's done a nice job.

You may have seen or heard when Willie takes the field, he lets out this sort of primal scream. I want to ask him why. I'm sure there's a lot behind that scream. How does that sort of joy, I guess, in taking the field for practice align with your beliefs?

Jeff Hafley: I want guys to be who they are. If you got to scream and to get yourself going, scream. I mean, as long as you're not disrespecting me or a teammate, you can do whatever the hell you want to get ready for practice. You got to ask him about that. The first time I heard it, I had no clue what was going on. But however you need to get ready to play, get ready to play. Like whatever it is, be you. Just be consistent with it. Don't do it one day and then don't do it again because then it's not real. But if it's real and it's who you are and it's what you do every day, keep doing it.

Will you guys tackle today or tomorrow?

Jeff Hafley: I'm thinking about it. If you watch, we're basically tackling right now. So I mean we'll see, we'll see.

Has anything stood out to you about Tutu Atwell's camp?

Jeff Hafley: I think he's done a nice job. He's a guy that he's consistent. He runs the right routes. When the ball is thrown to him, he's making the plays. And I think that's who he's been throughout his career. So excited to see him as we get into the Washington practices against a different team and some of these preseason games.

Have you got an idea how much of a legend he is locally? He brought Miami Northwestern High back. Did you ever cross paths with BC and Louisville?

Jeff Hafley: Oh yeah. He was a problem. I know all about him. He was a problem in college. I mean, I think one game when we played him, he didn't play or he got hurt and I was like, 'oh, I'm glad he's out.' I mean, he was dynamic. He could catch and run. They gave him the ball on a ton of reverses and just tried to feed him the ball over and over again. I know about his high school career and how well he did. I have a lot of respect for how he carries himself, the type of person that he is. He cares a lot about the community, a lot of family in the area and I think he's happy to be back, back home. So I'm excited to see where he can take his game this preseason.