Read the full transcript from HC Jeff Hafley's media availability on October 12, 2026.

Are you giving any thought to starting Kyle McCord against the Jets after the bye?

Jeff Hafley: No.

And your thinking and saying no is what?

Jeff Hafley: We've played five games and Malik is our quarterback.

Sticking with Malik, and this is probably a better question for him, but that 39-yard run. Do you know why he slid at the end? From the bird's eye perspective, it looked like there were more yards to gain but I acknowledge it could be completely different on the field.

Jeff Hafley: No, if I'm going to be honest, like I always am with you guys, during the moment I thought the same thing. But when you talk to the player, he felt like he was about to get hit, so he slid. I mean, I think he's the only one in the moment that could know that. And as far as the Malik questions, again, I totally respect all the questions and I get everybody has a job to do, so good question. We need to be better. Malik needs to be better, OK? And that's not the headline. The headline is we all need to be better, and I mean that. I thought yesterday for the first time we ran the ball really well and we moved the ball. We ran for 200 yards against a really good team. But everything in the pass game has to be better, right? It's the receivers, it's the tight ends, it's the protection. It all has to tie in and it all has to be better. And that's the quarterback, that's the coaches, that's the offensive line, that's the running backs, that's the tight ends. This is a team game that we all need to be more efficient and we need to be better. And we will work through that. I have confidence in the coaches, I have confidence in the players that we have. We will work through that and we will get better. It's been five weeks.

Quarterback aside, do you consider any other major wholesale changes on this bye?

Jeff Hafley: I don't want to say no because I want to – we just finished with the team. So I went through the normal day, I went through the team meeting. I'm going to take tonight, I'm going to take the rest of the bye week and we're going to look at everything. So I can't say yes, but I can't tell you no right now either. I think I'd be lying to you if I just said that because of course something could happen and I could see something and I have to make decisions for what's best for our team.

We knew about the challenge with Higgins and Chase coming in, but I thought JuJu Brents looked pretty good. I wanted to get your perspective on how JuJu played the game.

Jeff Hafley: I appreciate you noticing him. I thought he was competitive, not only in the run game, but also in the pass game. The way he pressed, the way he showed his confidence, he should walk away from that game feeling confident. Did we think one of them was going to play? Did we think both of them were going to play? Did we think none of them were going to play? We got both of them, and a really good quarterback – a really good offense. And overall, other than the 45-yard catch, I thought in the pass game, those guys competed and did an incredible job. We kept them – he wanted to throw the ball down the field, we kept making them check it down. He wanted to throw the ball down the field, we kept making them check it down. But the corners I thought competed, and I think JuJu is a guy that even just in front of the team right now, I showed a bunch of clips where I thought it was one of his best games.

Only five games, as you have noted correctly here. But in regards to Malik, where is he and what are you seeing in regards to going through the progressions and making the right choices?

Jeff Hafley: Sure, I think there's some where you can see yesterday in the two-minute drive, we had a concept over here where it was two guys essentially breaking out and he rehitched and he threw a great ball in an over route. So there's times like that, it's great. And then there's times where it needs to be better. It needs to be better from him, we need to get the right route run at the right depth. It needs to be better for sure, but there are signs of it. There was flashes yesterday in that game, especially as I think about that two-minute drive at the end of the half and then some of the things he did at the end of the game where he just looked aggressive and and comfortable. So we got to work through that.

With the passing game, what, like you mentioned beyond the quarterback, do you think is preventing that from being consistent the way that you're looking for?

Jeff Hafley: It's everything that I just talked about. And I think you guys are going to get tired of my answers, however the questions are phrased. It's everything. It's a detail of the route running. It starts with the protection. It's going through the progression. It's everybody being on the same page and everybody being more efficient in their one-eleventh.

Over the last couple weeks, Malik Willis has found Malik Washington in the passing game. What about that connection has really flourished over the last few games?

Jeff Hafley: I mean, he's a good route runner. He had a couple of really good routes versus man yesterday where there was great separation created and then the catch and run element. He's got the ability to catch the ball and he's got a good awareness of where people are in space when he gets the ball and he has the ability to make people miss. So hopefully that will continue to build as we get deep into our season.

How is Jonah? I think it was a non-contact injury if I saw the play correctly. And how did Jarrett Kingston do in his place?

Jeff Hafley: Obviously Jonah couldn't finish the game, so Kingston came in. He's doing OK. I was impressed with Kingston in the small sample size that we had. Even watching with the team today, there were quite a few clips and I kind of called him out in front of the team as just a great example of a guy that has stayed locked in and a guy that has practiced with limited reps but was ready for his moment. And he was physical and he executed. And I mean, those were some good guys they had inside yesterday and there was some real good physicality. So I thought he did a nice job.

I think we've heard people say you never want anyone to get too high or too low. Chris Johnson had that punch out of Chase Brown yesterday. How did you notice about how he responded after the high of forcing that turnover?

Jeff Hafley: I thought Chris had a solid game. There's a couple plays where, just like any of us, I'm sure that he wants back, but I see the confidence overall just growing with him. I mean, you can see it when he's playing out there. To your point, early in the season, when he had some moments where guys caught balls on him, I kind of didn't feel like the response was where we needed it to be. I don't feel that anymore. I thought this was a big test for him with the wide receivers they had as a rookie and overall, I'd say he answered it pretty well and regardless of the outcome of certain plays, I love the confidence and the energy that he's playing with. Just thinking back to that game, there was big third down at the end of the game where Jaylin Simpson had a PBU on a slant, and I could see the energy and excitement from Chris, who was right next to him. And I think you're starting to see him come out of his shell a little bit, and you're starting to see the confidence I know he has.

Making that play, punching the ball out. Does that go back to all the coaching and OTAs, training camp? I remember seeing those drills, getting the ball out for DBs.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I think a lot of it's muscle memory and it's him being able to take it from the drills to the practices to the field. There's a lot of shots that we take, you don't land all of them. I think Jacob's a real good example of a guy that punches probably 10 times a game. You can see the ball kind of jar out, we just haven't gotten him out yet. We got to keep punching and eventually they'll come out and hopefully we'll get him in bunches. But it was beautiful. His eyes were on the target. He went down and threw the elbow, followed the wrist. And I mean that was a big takeaway in the game because they were driving. And again, we had one three plays prior to that, and we did the same thing last week, our toe was out of bounds. So eventually our toe will be in bounds.

There was a clip I saw of Ollie seemingly passionately encouraging his teammates. Just what was your read on that situation?

Jeff Hafley: I didn't see it. I was probably getting ready to call a play. Ollie's a very, very passionate player. He plays that way. I think it's one of the reasons he plays well and he runs violent. I love that about him. He does it in practice. Ollie's maturing and there is leadership there and it's our job to develop that leadership so he uses it the right way and I'm starting to see that come out, which is really cool. Obviously losing Achane, and Ollie kind of stepping into a bigger role, he's done a nice job in the small sample size that we've got and he's a passionate dude and I love that about him.

When running behind left tackle, the Dolphins are first in the NFL in yards per carry. When running behind left guard, the Dolphins are third in the NFL in yards per carry. Don't know if you knew that, but why has that been a successful formula?

Jeff Hafley: I'd have to go back and study plays to give you a real honest answer. The easy answer is to say that the left side of the line is pretty damn strong and efficient. But I think that's like a blanket statement, so I don't know. You look at the analytics and all those numbers, but sometimes you gotta you gotta turn on the tape to see what's real behind it. Usually there's some that's true and there's some that's kinda like, 'Alright, maybe that wasn't really true on that play.' I'll have the guys check it out this week. Thanks.

Two questions about plays near the goal line. Ollie Gordon's touchdown, I don't know if he got the touchdown by extending the ball, but did he get it by extending the ball and is that a smart play in that situation?

Jeff Hafley: I would say there's times when you reach and there's times when you don't. What's the down and distance? If it's third down and you're in a crowd and there's potentially a chance for that to turn into a fumble, I think the risk-reward,yea I think the risk is too high if it's not fourth down. I think if  it's a fourth down, then I think you need to reach because you have to score on that play because there isn't another down coming up. So you got to be careful because there were times when the ball was punched out, it just happened to not be called a fumble. We've all seen multiple times guys reach and it becomes a fumble. It's like the same thing on the pylon. You guys have seen plays where a guy reaches and all of a sudden it's a touchback, right? So I think you got to know the down, the distance, the situation of the game, and you got to be really careful when you reach.

And on the tush push, Dexter Lawrence comes over the top. Do you guys need to chop his legs? Do you need to go on a longer snap count?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, good point. He definitely jumped the snap count. We have to mix up the count. As a defensive coach, the way to stop the play is if you guess right and you jump the snap count. He did a good job and he's a massive human being. And when he jumped over early, it was not going to work well. So credit to him. But you want to stay on top of the snap count for sure.

How did Kenneth Grant do in his first 16 defensive snaps?

Jeff Hafley: Good. I thought it was solid. I think getting his feet wet, getting the rust off. I think he did some good things and we need to get him going a little bit this week with what we do on the field and then get him back practicing more and playing more because we're going to need him.

When it comes to special teams, I know you've had a lot of personnel changes. But you've also had a lot of errors by veterans, whether it's Riley Patterson or Bradley Pinion, Malik. How do you get to the bottom of that? How do you correct that stuff?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I mean I think they're all different situations and all the guys that you mentioned, but we're counting on those veteran players to do their job to the best of their ability. Whether it's in the punt game, whether it's making our PATs and our extra points, whether it's kicking the ball, whether it's we're trying to kick a touchback or we're trying to kick the ball deep left, just like any other position, we're counting on those veterans to do their job and do them at a high level. That's what they're here for.

Are we going to see either Trey Moore or Kyle Louis practice after the bye? Both they're eligible to as you know.

Jeff Hafley: Let's go one week at a time, because we're going to practice this week. And then we'll talk about, if that's OK, we'll talk about next week, next week. So I would say no for both of them this week.

The pass rush obviously wasn't that much of a factor this week. Is there any particular reason why?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, one, Joe gets the ball out about as quick as anybody. I mean, it's in the low twos when the ball's coming out. Still, I thought we had opportunities. On the first third down of the game, Trader came off the edge unblocked and actually tipped that ball. And then we had a pressure – actually, they called Chop offside on the pressure at the end of the game. There were so many third-and-2, third-and-3, third-and-4, where the lower the yardage is on third down, the quicker the ball is going to come out because the shorter the routes are, right? The deeper the down and distance is, the longer the routes are, the more time you have. So we need to do a better job on second down to get to longer third downs. All that being said, to try to answer your question, like Chop, for example, I thought they did a really nice job. At times, they were chipping them with a tight end and a running back, so you saw Chop early on, he had two or three guys on him. We moved him around a little bit. He got really going in the latter part of the game in the second half. I felt like I felt our d-line in general more in the second half because even at the end of the game, Jordan came free and he had a good shot on Burrow at the end on the third down and I think it was goal from the six-yard line when they had to kick the field goal. But I need to help there too. There were times to try to generate more pressure, I can always do more there and I'll look hard at that. But we need to get more pressure, but for the 34 passes that he threw, the ball was coming out pretty good.

With Jason Marshall Jr. and that 45-yard reception, is there anything that he could have done differently or should have done differently?

Jeff Hafley: Good question, because it's a pretty – the guy makes those plays, right? So hats off to him. I think he's the best guy that there is in our league. Just again, being truthful with you and the one thing I said to him in the team meeting was, if he went up there with his left, he would have been more in front of him, right? So picture me going up with my left and the receiver's here and he would have landed on him. And if that ball was on his shoulder pad, like he caught it, there's a good chance that if I go up with my left instead of my right, now he's in front of me, there's a chance that I come down on his body and the ball comes out. He kind of was in position. At one point I was like, if he's going to go up and get it, and he kind of went up with his right, but in doing so, the receiver was in front of him. So when he fell, there was nothing on top of him. So trying to coach him there. And then at the same part, I don't want to get into too much detail about the scheme, but there should have been two people, we weren't going to leave him. As you guys watch us play, the thing I always talk to you guys about was eliminating explosive plays, which frustrates offenses. And I know it frustrated them yesterday. We weren't going to leave him one on one. So there should have been two people back there. Tough situation to put a guy in, great catch.

If he went with the other hand, could there have been pass interference? Because there was no contact, but maybe that's because of the hand that he went up with.

Jeff Hafley: No, I think as he turned and went up for it, as long as he turned and went up for it, because he was in good position to do so. Now you're correct in what you're saying. If I just turn and I'm like this and my head's turned, but he had time and he was right there. Like all in all, he played it pretty well. The guy made a great catch. So by no means am I like – I'm gonna coach everything the best I can to try to help to make it better. The guy made a great catch, so I'm not saying Marshall, I'm not saying anything negative about him. That was a great catch. We should have had two people there, and we didn't.

Malik Willis's throw to Malik Washington in the end zone early in the game. Malik Washington seemed to open the ball was overthrown a little bit. Does Malik Willis need to –

Jeff Hafley: The one early in the game deep down the sideline?

Yeah.

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, he should have went up the numbers and turned to the inside. So it goes back to when you watch, is it the quarterback's fault? Is it the protection? Is it the receiver? Is it everybody combined? The way we had practiced that play was he was going to come down the inside part of the numbers and look inside. So when he set up to throw the ball, he was ready to throw it down the inside part of the numbers. And for whatever reason it was, that got off. Good observation.

I find it interesting that the team has been able to rush on third-and-long and successfully convert first downs on those because yesterday's instance wasn't the first time. What goes into, aside from just catching the defense off guard, being able to run for those first downs?

Jeff Hafley: One, you got to have a play caller willing to do that. A lot of guys are scared to because your conversion rate is probably not as great as if you're throwing the football. I think you look at what fronts they're going to get into and a lot of teams when you get to third-and-7-plus, a lot of people get into more exotic fronts, right? For example, you could overload and put all your defenders on this side of the center and only have one guy over there, which you see a lot of times in passing situations to try to isolate a guy or run games on this side, right? Everybody does it. There's times that when you do that as a defensive guy, you're not gonna be very good if you get like a trap run, for example. And usually when you get one of those trap runs, you tend to get out of your exotic fronts, but the play caller's got to be willing to do that. Sometimes you do that in situations where you get five yards and you're going to go for it on fourth down. So you got to always think ahead in the situation to think about, are we going to be in four-down territory if I get it to fourth-and-5 or less? Or are you trying to get it all at once? So there's a lot that plays into it. And then sometimes they're checked to, if they're going to do this and we have a good answer. I thought it was a really good call by Bobby and I thought it was executed really well.