Read the full transcript from HC Jeff Hafley's media availability on November 9, 2026.

With Malik's groin, has it reached a point with the tightness yesterday that you have to consider just not playing him in a game for it to heal fully?

Jeff Hafley: Truthfully, I haven't met with our medical meeting since it's only 12:05, so with all the medical questions right now, I'll get back to you on those on Wednesday when we meet just because it's been running around, all the players just came up. So I'll do all of our normal medical meetings when I usually do them today and then get details on how the guys are today. So whether you ask about him or Will or any of these guys on the list, I still got to get the information from Kyle and the group before I talk in any medical terms.

I mean, there was a lot of holding calls. There was obviously Malik having issues with mobility and Detroit has an excellent front line. Were all of those things factors based on the opponent and the circumstances of the game, or were those things fixable?

Jeff Hafley: OK, I'll try to go through, I don't know if they all correlate together. So I see that as almost three different questions. One, the holding calls. When you look at the holding calls, some were legitimate holds. Others, I thought we got beat on one and what happens sometimes when you get beat is you get beat fast, you turn and you hold, right? There were some at the point of attack. There was one I felt like was a knockdown and I thought it was a good block. We had the one on Will and we had one on Seydou. So you look at all those individually, some were bad hand placements, one we kind of just were over physical and tackled the guy and the other we got beat and grabbed. So like I said, I'd watch the holding calls and get back to you there. Detroit has a really good defensive line. They have good edge rushers. They have strong guys in the middle. You could see Malik playing from the pocket. Sometimes the ball's got to come out quicker. Sometimes the protection broke down and he just didn't have the same speed to escape and run. I mean, that was pretty clear to see yesterday, right? So I think all those things were a factor. I hope that answers your question.

The trade deadline is obviously tomorrow. I know you've touched on this subject, but with it being now so imminent, are there any new conversations that take place with players or how do you manage that?

Jeff Hafley: No, I mean, like I've said, I love the guys here. I appreciate their effort. I love coaching every one of them. And those are my conversations with the players.

I know and totally understandably your conversations with Sully by and large remain confidential. But are you able to share whether he's indicated to you whether he thinks there might be trades tomorrow or if he thinks it's unlikely?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, again, I think you already know the answer to the question without being disrespectful to you. I mean, you know my answer is going to be that my conversations with Sully will remain private. And I know you understand why I'm answering you like that. And hopefully you respect that.

Two things on Zane Gonzalez. What was the thinking behind having him hold on the kickoff for Bradley Pinion and what is Zane's future with the Dolphins?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, the hold was for the type of kick we were trying to attempt. You see some of those dirty ball kicks that bounce and kind of spray all over the field, just trying to change it up there and with a holder, that's how we were doing it. With Zane, Zane's made some really good kicks for us. He made one after he missed yesterday and then he missed the kick right before half that we need Zane to make. So we'll continue to have conversations just like Sully and I do every week and you guys have seen, we're constantly looking to improve. But like I said, with Zane, he missed the one going into the second half that we have to make and then he came back and he made one. So we'll have those conversations and talk.

When you looked at the run game yesterday, what do you attribute kind of the decline of the last couple of weeks?

Jeff Hafley: Just looking at yesterday, I hate ever going why something happened in one game versus another game. I thought, again, give Detroit credit. They have a good front and they're strong in the middle. They had a lot of guys in the box. They've played really good defense as of late. I think they're one of the top, within the last couple games, they've been playing as good as anybody. So give them their credit first. I don't ever want to take that away from an opponent. We had some missed assignments yesterday. We had some technique errors yesterday. We had a chance to, in my opinion watching the tape, we had a chance to hit some where we just missed that we had been hitting. And then most importantly, the penalties put us in a lot of hard positions where we were in a lot of get back on track situations where it's hard to stay balanced. And I think I said this the other day, as a defensive play caller, when you kind of know when it's run or when it's passed because teams are behind the sticks, it's easy to get the better call than the offense has. When you're able to stay ahead of the sticks at second-and-6 rather than second-and-15 or first-and-15 or second-and-20, I mean, it's hard to call anything. And that's where we have to be better. We have to stay on track. It's OK to have it be second-and-8 or it's okay to have it be second-and-7 or 6. It's not OK to have it second-and-20 or first-and-20. We can't play the game like that. So a lot of it, again, give them credit, but a lot of it was self-inflicted yesterday that we have to be better at.

Were the penalties more of a one-off because you guys had been doing well since the bye? I think you're now 18th in penalties, 25th in penalty yards, which are both good rankings. But yesterday I had eight offensive penalties, two special teams, one defense, who knows about the defensive call. I know you're going to address this, but was this a continuation of an early season problem or was this kind of a one-off?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, just looking at it, you'd hope to say it was a one-off, but we can't make excuses. We can't have that many penalties. I mean, we're not going to be efficient to play the game that way and we're not going to win if we continue to have penalties like that. Since the bye week, it had been better, but it wasn't good enough yesterday. So again, let's look at what we did lately and let's correct it. And when you look at those penalties, it wasn't like it was the same penalty, the same guy holding, the same reason he was holding. It just accumulated over time and it kind of snowballed on us. But we need to get that corrected. I'm not going to make excuses and pretend that's OK. We need to be better than that. And I thought, speaking of the defensive one, I liked how competitive Marsh was on the play. The guy ran a double move, I thought he was right there and I thought it was a really good play by him. And I want him to be confident and I went right over to him and I told him. I thought he played it really well. And that was a huge play in the game for us and I want him to keep his confidence on that play.

How did Kadyn Proctor look in his return?

Jeff Hafley: Good. He was physical and he was pretty efficient and pretty effective. It was good to see he dusted the rust off fairly quickly and I thought he played a really good game.

Road teams have had a lot of fans at home games this year. I'm wondering, do you notice that as you coach a game or as you run out to the field and the other side is just like yesterday, all blue?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I can give you coach talk and tell you that I don't notice it, but I think that's a bunch of BS. Of course I notice it. You can hear it, you can notice it. Now, does that affect anything that I do or we do? No. I mean, it is what it is at this point. And as we grow and as we develop and as we build, that will change. And that's where my vision is, just like everything else right now. So to answer your question, of course I notice it and I see it and I hear it. Does it affect how we call the game? Does it affect anything that we do on the field? No, it doesn't. But that will change down the road.

Corners and safeties seemed really good obviously to hold that offense yesterday to below 20. In general, how you're starting safeties are playing – just wanted your thoughts on Taaffe and Trader.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, yesterday I thought the biggest thing was I thought our disguise was as good as I've seen it. I mean, there were times where I was like, are these guys going to get in the position they're supposed to be on the snap? Because they were holding it for so long. And I think that shows confidence. It shows that they're starting to understand the scheme. It shows communication, their physicality. They were where they were supposed to be. They played with good depth and for the most part we kept the ball in front of us. I know they hit the one on the corner route in the third or fourth quarter late in the game, but I thought they played really well and they did a nice job.

I know you said you haven't talked to the medical team. Regarding Malik Willis, though, do you think that the groin is at a stage where he might need a day off from practice or he might need a day off from a game?

Jeff Hafley: Again, whether or not I think, I gotta sit down and talk to the experts and when I have that medical meeting, just like the rest of these guys on my list, I mean, I'll have a better answer for you on that.

Dan Campbell had mentioned that he sees this Dolphins teams very similar to his first year with the Lions. The physicality, the strength, the grit is there. Certainly, you do play a very similar brand of football. I'm wondering, do you view it the same way as he does or how do you see it?

Jeff Hafley: Well, one, I really, I appreciate him saying that because he's a guy I have a tremendous amount of respect for and how he does things and what he's been able to do there in his time there. So that means a lot to me that he would say that. But I think that's more of a credit to our players. And I get it, again, I'm extremely disappointed with our record and where we're at, but when you turn on the tape and when he turns on our tape and when our opponents turn on the tape, I think they all see what's coming. And I get it, that's hard for a lot of people right now, but for an expert in this profession to see that and say that, that means a lot to me. And I do see it. And I can feel it with our players and I can feel with the positivity and I can see the disappointment and the hurt when we lose because it sucks, right? I mean, I'm not going to sugarcoat that at all. But the way I see them come back, even today, just walking around and like feeling it at practice after losses and the way they're Saturday night in the hotel and this youthful energy, it is inspiring. And I know that, again, most people won't see that right now, but when people turn on the tape and they really study us, they understand. And that's exciting to me.

How would you evaluate your pass catcher's performance outside of Caleb Douglas, whenever he's active?

Jeff Hafley: For the most part, I think they're doing a good job. I mean, I think there's some learning experiences going on. I think Malik Washington's done a really good job. I keep going back to him. He's played well. And then between Kevin and Chris, for all of them – I mean, two rookies playing a lot of snaps. I think they're doing a nice job. There's constant improvement there, which is really important. I mean look, Kevin had a chance again yesterday to have another huge play and just unfortunately got called back for a hold. That didn't count, but you still see the explosiveness and you see his ability to separate and get open. And again, I think they are two guys that are going to get better and better.

Chris, specifically, what can he take away from these games, even if the yards and catches in production isn't there?

Jeff Hafley: It's bigger than the yards and the catches. I mean, again, that's what everybody wants as a receiver and as a competitor, but watch every play. Did he run the right route? Was he where he was supposed to be? How can he run the route better? What was his blocking like? Was he on the correct man? What was his alignment like? What were his motions like? How did he time up his motions? Like all that stuff plays into it, which is really important because you're not always going to get the football, but how did he do without the ball in his hand, right? And then hopefully as we get going, he'll have more opportunities to catch the ball.

What was going on with JuJu Brents yesterday, he went into the locker room, but no injury was announced?

Jeff Hafley: With JuJu, I believe, just thinking back from yesterday on that, I think he was cramping and he just needed to hydrate.

I always say most teams don't really have an identity until November. Now, elite teams do. But has this team established an identity as a defensive team? And does that make you happy if that's the case?

Jeff Hafley: I think we're still establishing our identity. And I don't want to ever pit one group against another. I want to be a complete football team. I think how we play the game has become our identity. and I don't want to take anything away from the offense or special teams.

The evaluation of the special teams – I know with a young team you're looking to continue looking for guys. How do you evaluate it? How often are you guys out there every week looking for players there, looking to improve there, looking to get those mistakes out?

Jeff Hafley: Sure. I want to be careful here because I spent a lot of time watching the special teams this morning. And let me say I want everybody to kind of peel back on this a little bit. Our special teams, if you watch our kickoff team, if you watch our punt team, if you watch our units, we've played better on special teams. If you really think about what hurt us yesterday, and I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, we missed a field goal, so we put that on special teams. On the opening kick, we didn't kick it in the landing zone, so they got the ball in the 40-yard line. We hit a bad punt, so I think it was 20-something yards net punt, so we had that. I mean, but our coverage units gotten much better. Our punt protection's gotten better. Our field goal protection has been better, right? It's we have to do better in those kicking situations. And yeah, I got it. We got the fake punt thrown on us yesterday. I mean, I watched it like 100 times. I mean, the guy was a high school quarterback who can throw the ball. We were lined up. He made a back shoulder throw. So give them credit. It was a good call. It was a gutsy call in a game and they executed at a high level. It's not like I watched and said, wow, we're lined up a certain way, we're just going to get gashed on this play. And then our special teams did a really good job with that fake yesterday. So I want to be careful where I'm up here telling the truth, good or bad, because that's important to me. The truth of the matter is our special teams units, they are improving. It's yesterday it happened to be the kicking part of our game. It was not good enough.

Aside from one chunk play against the Jets, Chris Johnson has given up very little these last two weeks. How would you describe the level of quarterback play he's giving you at this point?

Jeff Hafley: Yesterday, he played more on the outside, so good observation. He was on the outside more yesterday because it was such a big 12 personnel game, so there wasn't an opportunity to play a lot of nickel. And he's starting to get more comfortable out there as well. The biggest thing is, again, the brightest spot for me from Chris is I love the way Chris tackles. I love him in coverage. He's so smart where he can process so many different things. Again, I will say this, the thing that jumps out to me the most was how we handled the last two weeks. I mean, think about being Chris. Chris turns 22 today. So let's just understand, Chris, up until this point in his NFL career, has been a 21-year-old. There's college teams that are like 24-year-olds. Chris is 22 today, so happy birthday to Chris. If you see him, make sure you tell him happy birthday. So this guy who had a play last week where he missed a sack and was blasted all over the world, comes back and makes a huge play in the game against one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL and a quarterback who rarely throws picks. And the way he competed against, in my opinion, two of the better receivers in the NFL in St. Brown and Jamo (Jameson Williams), that is what I'm most proud of. I think the kid's going to be a really, really good player. And at 22-years-old. He's done a really nice job this year.

Why is it that teams are not trying to just kick the ball out of the end zone?

Jeff Hafley: Where do you start when you kick it out of the end zone? 35. OK, so when you start on the 35 and say they complete a 15-yard pass, which isn't very hard – well, it can be hard. Say they get 15 yards and now they're on the 50, now you're in four-down territory and you're another first down and a half away from kicking a field goal. So if you can kick off the ball and start on the 22 or the 20 or the 25 or get the other team to have a holding call and back them up – you just don't always want to start on the 35-yard line. When you're getting ready to call a defensive play and you see them come out and they're on the 35 and they're this close to the 50-yard line, then they're on the 50 and they're going to go for it on four downs and then they can flip the field if they don't and now you're starting off on the minus 5-yard line. That's why teams don't do it all the time. So If you can get a kicker that is good with those dirty balls or really good in the ball placement and you can get down there and you can keep them on that 22-yard line, the 25, it's another first down that they need to get to get to that spot. Does that make sense? You're just so close nowadays with the 35 being the touchback. I see why you're saying it though, trust me. Those are all conversations that we have.

Yeah. I'm trying to understand because the rules change and the game has evolved.

Jeff Hafley: It's totally evolved when you get the ball on the 35-yard line. If you hit a 25-yard pass like teams do all the time, it's look where you're at. You know what I mean? So it totally changed the game from when we used to start on the 20. I mean, that's 15 yards. That's a first down and more.

I'm wondering if you look at more games as more winnable than another one. Indy is 2-7. The Chargers are coming up. The Jets are coming up. I know every game is a game. Are there such things as we need to get this game because this opponent is on our level or anything along those lines?

Jeff Hafley: It's just not how I'm wired. And I say we, it's not how we're wired. No. I mean, certainly you look at an opponent like last week and you have a ton of respect for them. You watch the film and you see everything that they can do and you see all their weapons and you work all week and you get yourself to a point where on Saturday and Sunday you go into the game and I hope every coach and every player we has believes in that moment that we're going to win the game. It's just if not, then we don't have the right people. And I told the team Saturday night, like I usually do, I don't care what either team's records are right now. We're sitting here, we're getting ready to play a game tomorrow and that doesn't matter, like it's the NFL. You go into every game with the mindset that you can win and you can, right? You have to execute at a really high level. Sometimes more than if you're playing a really elite team, yeah, maybe the execution has to be a little bit better. Maybe you have to do some things different. But no, I'm not to that point where I'm just going to look at a schedule and be disrespectful. This is the National Football League. There's really good players on every team. There's really good coaches on every team. And if you don't bring it, you're not going to have a chance.