Read the full transcript from HC Jeff Hafley's media availability on November 11, 2026.

Jeff Hafley: First of all, it's Veteran's Day. I think it's always a time to give thanks to all the veterans, the men and women who sacrifice for this country. I have a tremendous amount of respect. We have a tremendous amount of respect for everything that they've done. So thank you to all the veterans out there.

So injuries, so we have a couple guys going on IR. So Zach, as you guys know, went to IR. As you heard, he tore his bicep, which is remarkable on the first play of that game, which I didn't even know at that point. So I give him a ton of credit, not only for pushing through that game and playing really at a high level, but just for everything that he's done in my early stages here. His leadership, the way he's kind of mentored these young guys, the way he's played and helped us get better in the run and the pass game. He's been a great teacher to them. He's been a great captain for us to lean on. And I'm just appreciative of the guy. We'll miss him. He'll be out for the season. You guys will ask questions. Is he having surgery? He's going to work through everything. So that will go on this week, but he'll be done. And then he'll be back around the players, he'll help out our guys. We had a good conversation about that today. But sad for Zach, sad for our football team, but grateful for everything he's done and what he will continue to do down the road.  And then Malik. Malik had the MRI on Monday, which I told you guys he would, and we got back those results. And the injury had progressed enough where the medical team believed he needed the rest. It started as a groin injury that worked to his core. I'm not going to get into medical details because that's not my expertise. He'll get second opinions this week. You're going to ask questions, surgery, non-surgery. He's going to get more input this week and make a decision, and our hope is that he'll be back after his four weeks, which in time, if healthy, he'll return. You guys will ask me, yes, he'll be the starting quarterback if he returns. So I'm giving you all the information, you guys won't even have to ask me any questions when I'm done with this. But he will be the starter when healthy, when he does return. And again, you look back at Malik and you watch him in that last game and you could see it. He couldn't quite move the way he had done early in the year and he was gritting through it and he was toughing through it. He made some plays with his feet in that game to keep plays alive. But we want him to be healthy so he can play at a high level without risking further injury.

All that being said, in my meeting with the captains this morning, they came to me and we've lost a couple of captains now, which on a team with not a lot of veterans, one, a great opportunity for some of our younger players to step up in leadership roles. But two, we have some other vets and they came to me and they wanted to name another captain. So I listened and we named Josh Uche a captain today, a guy who has really done a tremendous job on and off the field. He's another guy who has been an outstanding leader for our young guys. It's a guy who, last year, towards the end of the season, was not even active. And now he's a guy that people are having to game plan around. He's playing the run well. He's getting his pressures, his sacks and he's been an unbelievable teammate and a great help to me.

With Willis at this point, is the sense that – I know you said surgery decision will be made this week – is a sense that it's leaning more towards surgery or rest? Do you have any idea?

Jeff Hafley: No, I'm just – I don't want to lean any way. I'm just throwing that out there because whether or not he needs it, you guys are going to ask. I'm hopeful he doesn't. I'm hopeful with rest he'll be able to come back and play. I just don't have all the answers. That's not my expertise and he's going to get some other opinions, but he's in a good head space. I can't answer, I can't really give you a clear answer on that.

One last thing on Willis, did they give you any timeline as whether they thought maybe four to six weeks, 6 to 8?

Jeff Hafley: No. It's just in my mind as a coach, you go on IR, you can come back after four weeks. And I'm a glass half full guy.

Just to clarify on Josh Uche's appointment, the players who approached you, were they the remaining captains on the team or just a separate group of players?

Jeff Hafley: Our captains. We talked this morning and I always ask, you guys have any thoughts, anything? We talked about leadership. We talked on certain guys having to step up. And it was brought up that – it was brought from the beginning, if other people had earned, we could always keep this thing open. And I'm not going to say who it was that brought it up, but everybody unanimously agreed. And I kind of smiled because it's good to see players try to give opportunity to other players. And I think on a tough day, I think that's a bright spot for the mindset of our football team.

What did Uche have to say about that when you brought it up to him?

Jeff Hafley: I did it in front of the team. So humble, kind of looked at me and nodded and shook his hand and congratulated him. I'll have a conversation with him after practice. I just I haven't had a chance yet. It's been a busy morning.

How has McCord done since his arrival?

Jeff Hafley: Good. I say that – he's mostly had the look team reps. He's done a good job in the look team reps that he's given us. The developmental periods that we have, I mean, it's why we do it, right? So say he's gotten 10 to 15 reps over the last 10 weeks, it's 100 reps of our plays. So he's done a good job in those periods. But it's going to be a lot different. I mean, him now being the starter and getting the game plan and playing every down and playing with a live rush and going through a real football game. So I'm excited to see what he can do. It opens a great opportunity for him and I'm happy that he'll get his chance.

I know you view this as a developmental league. This is a developmental season. Did you ever contemplate getting a veteran backup quarterback in case something like this happened? Or this is just another developmental player?

Jeff Hafley: He's a guy, I thought Sully did a really good job. He's a guy who Sully and his whole staff, if you watch the preseason, he had a really good preseason. I think he threw the ball over 30-plus times and had a game-winning drive in the last preseason game that they played. And whether that's preseason or not, there's enough tape to see talent, poise. The guy has played in a lot of games in college and a lot of big games. I mean, you play on a big stage at Ohio State and then he finished off at Syracuse, but that's a big stage at Ohio State. And then certainly he did a nice job in Lambeau in the preseason. And I'm excited to see what he can do.

How does he change, if at all, what you guys do or what you guys have been doing this season on offense?

Jeff Hafley: I mean, I'm not going to get into too much detail on that for obvious reasons. But then again, you have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to practice. If I'm going to be completely transparent, you don't have like another two weeks to put in a whole other offense. So there's going to be a find out what we can do best with him in the game to have success to win a game. Make sense?

Brady Cook, is he your back up?

Jeff Hafley: Yes.

Do you plan to add another quarterback to the practice squad or roster?

Jeff Hafley: Conversations that we have had, so that will be to be determined.

Regarding Malik Willis, we know that he was slowed against New England. Was there ever a time during those two weeks that you thought we should send him out of practice, limit him, anything along those lines, or limit him even last game during the game?

Jeff Hafley: As we as we went through practice, I mean there were times when you could see just he didn't run around as much and just like any player who's dealing with anything, we tried to take care of him in those regards. But like I said, we watched him this past week and got the MRI and now that we know the results and it's progressed, this is the best decision for him.

I'm curious how you spend the last hours of the trade deadline, especially when you have a team that you're about to play that's sending away a handful of prominent players over the last couple of weeks. What's the balance between the preparation there and like being informed about the personnel change?

Jeff Hafley: Truthfully, I sat in the defensive staff room with the defensive staff and we game planned. And Anne sent me texts to keep me updated who was – I mean, that's the truth. I mean, I look at my phone and find out and we move on and try to figure out who's going to be on the team we're playing. I say this, and this has nothing to do with the Colts, because I have a tremendous amount of respect for Shane and what he's done there and the players that they still have. Clearly, they still have one of the best backs in the league, and they've been scoring points. Regardless of who we're playing right now, where we're at, regardless whether it was the Lions or the Colts or the Patriots or down the road, this has got to be on what can we do to improve our players. And even in team meetings, it's fundamentals and techniques and getting better at our scheme and trying to figure out what we can game plan to continue to add and develop that we can still run at a high level. So who we're playing, what numbers we're playing, we need to play better and we need to take care of ourselves and improve our players. So that's the focus.

How do you weigh and balance the fact that mobile, athletic quarterbacks create an enormous benefit on game day, but perhaps there might also be an increased risk of injury.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, you have some that I've been around that go through a whole season playing that way and nothing happens. And some guys, they get hit and something does happen. But then you get a guy who stays in the pocket and can't get out of the way and he's getting hit even more. So I mean, I think there's a balance between a pocket quarterback and a guy who has the ability to make plays. You're going to get hit regardless.

You talked about the two captains who went on IR, but we haven't spoken, I think since his injury, about the third captain who's on IR, that's De'Von. So I want to ask you if you've been around the team. What can you tell us about your recovery?

Jeff Hafley: Thank you for bringing him up. He had his surgery. He's in the training room every morning. He sat in the team meeting last Monday. He was sitting in the front, which was cool to have him there. Been in touch with him. He's been around the players. He's in our weight room, so he's around. I'm sure he wishes that he was out there, but his attitude's been great. I've seen him doing his rehab and he's working really hard to get better, but yeah, he's doing well.

Have you guys made a decision on Zane Gonzalez?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, Zane will be our kicker.

And Trey Moore, any update there?

Jeff Hafley: Trey Moore will still be out, but I'll give you one.

Darrell Baker Jr.?

Jeff Hafley: I was gonna give it to you. How'd you know that? I was going to tell you, I was going to give you one, but you got it. Baker will practice today.

With a five-game losing streak from the Colts, when a team's struggling the way that the Colts are, do you view that as any type of advantage on your end?

Jeff Hafley: No. And I say that, I hope that as we build this thing, regardless of who we're playing, regardless of what our record is, regardless of what their record is, we respect our opponent and we put in the same preparation each week. And that's my challenge to our team and that will always remain the challenge to our team. And I think if you have that mindset, you can consistently get better. So no.

Is Rodney Harrison Jr. ready yet?

Jeff Hafley: No, he's not.

We know you signed Keith Cooper Jr. What do you think the defensive tackle rotation will look like?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, it was good to get Coop back. The guys were excited. He got close with a lot of the guys in the short period of time that we were together. So we'll see how he looks today, see if we can get him in the mix. And then you got Jordan out there, Biggers, KG, and then it will be the fourth to see who that is and to see if Coop can get back in the swing of things and do it. So we're going to ask a lot of those young guys to step up, play more snaps. I thought KG played a better game. He played more snaps. He made some impact plays and this will kind of open the door a little bit for him to continue to get more reps as we go.

Without necessarily revealing any specifics, did the club choose to decline trade overtures on a player or two? Do you know if that happened?

Jeff Hafley: Again, I don't want to get into what happened and what didn't happen. Ultimately, nothing happened. So we'll just leave it at that.

When you look back at the McCord tape – preseason and also what he did in Syracuse, which was pretty impressive, famously came from behind and knocked off the Miami Hurricanes. What do you think he does have in his toolkit?

Jeff Hafley: He's got a strong arm, stronger than you think. He sees it well. The ball comes out fast. He's decisive. He's aggressive. I think you'll see as you get to know him, he has this kind of quiet confidence about himself. And I think one thing that you just take, he has experience. Again, he does not have experience in this league and this league is very different, but he does have experience. He has played in a lot of games, but from when I watched him, he's thrown a lot of passes and he does have arm talent and the ball comes out quickly and it'll be interesting to see. And again, I want to walk into this thing too. I'm not going to completely judge the guy on three days of practice and going out and playing in a live game. With Malik being on IR for four weeks at the minimum because of the rules, I want him to take this time and develop and grow and see where he can get to without, one way or the other, making this one game the whole this is what you're going to get. Because I think too often that's what we do.

We know yesterday was probably a traumatic day for the players learning about Zach Sieler and Malik. How was their mindset, relatively speaking?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I mean, I haven't talked to every single guy individually because today's the first day they're really back in the building. But talking to those that I have, I mean, it's tough losing – you mentioned Zach. It's tough losing a guy like Zach for some of those young defensive guys that really leaned on him. But the cool part is, now they're talking about they got to step up. And a lot of the young guys, they need to step up whether they're ready or not in leadership roles that we hope down the road they can become. And now it's their time to step up a little bit more. Everybody's going to have to. He was playing at a high level and what he was doing for a bunch of young guys was pretty cool. And on the other side of the ball for Malik, it's the same thing. I think guys are hopeful that he'll feel better and get back to himself. But now Kyle's got an opportunity. We got to rally around him. We got to run the ball well. We got to continue to grow outside at receiver and develop some new chemistry with all young guys out there. And Malik Washington will have to step up. But I think guys will continue to press on.

With Malik Willis and you guys ultimately judging his season, he's been on the injury report for four weeks: two with the groin, one with the toe, one with the thumb. He's going to miss four games. What will this do to your ultimate judgment of his durability, his performance, all that kind of stuff?

Jeff Hafley: Sure, a fair question. I think you get through these four weeks, so it would leave four or five games left, and we'll see. And we'll see if he comes back and can play and how he does in those games. And if not, then we'll have to evaluate in other ways.