Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel's press conference on Aug 28, 2025.
Q: I was going to ask what appealed to you guys about CB Julius Brents?
"His football play. (laughter) Love his redirection, love his physicality, he competes. I thought he was deserving of an active spot so we made the move."
Q: Just because I think it's been some time since we asked about him – is WR Tyreek Hill on track to play in Week 1? What's his timeline to return to full participation in practice?
"He'll do some stuff today, but we've been making sure that he's going to have no setbacks for next week and so yeah, we look good. Everything looks great."
Q: Your offense hasn't had WR Tyreek Hill for a large part of training camp and preseason. What have you learned about the offense without Tyreek?
"I think there's always cause and effect. I think just in general you have different structures that you go against and you get to find out different ways to utilize different players and go against some different looks. I think the starting point from defense's perspective is they approach the two receivers and when you have one, it changes the looks. It gives you an opportunity to work a lot of things like quarterback hots and play against a little bit more blitz and play against a little more man and it gives you opportunities to really see what you have and work on things that you otherwise wouldn't. You always want a player like that on the field, but there is an unintended consequence of being able to be more versatile in your game and to focus intentionally on various things that we otherwise wouldn't. I think that's kind of been a strength of the team in general, is this team from practice to practice is able to focus on controllables and very much not focus on things outside of that such as who's not in. We had a very productive practice with a temporary, low number running back crew and no one blinked and we found ways to get better from that. I think that's another example of ways that guys focus on what they can control."
Q: Is CB Rasul Douglas signed to start or does he have to sort of work his way into that role?
"We're not in the business of handing over those positions especially in a competitive environment. I think Rasul (Douglas), we felt like ensured even another step up of competitiveness in the room and so whether it's him starting or someone else, I think overall the Dolphins are better. We weren't plugging and playing, we were putting him in the group and seeing how that shakes out. We have three extra practices on top of a normal work week for Week 1 to kind of sift through that. It's a competitive room that we'll for sure start the guys that are in best position to start Week 1."
Q: What were your observations of TE Darren Waller in practice yesterday and did he give you more confidence that he'll be back to NFL speed in less than two weeks?
"I think there's been a lot of things that it's deciding between group activity and individual activity, is really what you're doing in that case and he's right where we'd want him in group activity. The whole point of it was so that we wouldn't have a step back in how we were working with him and that he'd stay on the field and we'd continue to coach and get him all dialed in to the nuances that are a little different while also taking advantage of all the things that are the same from him and the way (Offensive Coordinator) Frank (Smith) had coached him in the past. So very happy the reps he had yesterday. He'll have more reps today that are focused on different things in his game, but all of it has been very intentional and so I feel good about him contributing to our team Week 1 and how that is and how much that is, is dependent upon the work done until then as well as what the defense presents as challenges from old Indianapolis."
Q: At what point do you worry about his chemistry with QB Tua Tagovailoa?
"When I see either the quarterback progressing because the route isn't winning in the appropriate timing or I see errant throws in his direction. I think that's the biggest thing, is there's always variance and you're trying to really capture how long is it going to take these guys to feel comfortable, anticipating where he's going to move. I'm comfortable until I'm shown a reason not to feel comfortable and then with those two guys and how intentional they are, that just takes one meeting of concerted detail before I think that they will be in step, so I'm not too concerned. There does need to be work done that I'm forecasting, but that's based on all the information at hand and I feel very comfortable that they're going to be inseparable soon. Each day is important, so much so that we couldn't have any steps back in the process because the one thing that I've learned with Tua is his learning curve is super fast to tailor his ball placement to guys if he can get the correction immediately after whether that's after practice or the next day based on tape and that's what we're banking on."
Q: How close is S Ashtyn Davis from being full-go and is he in play for Week 1?
"I would say he's in play because if I didn't he'd punch me in the face. (laughter) He's going to be participating today and I've been very proud of him in conjunction with the training staff. It feels a lot like managing Alec Ingold in a great way. Like hey dude, chill out. He's grown up and is a wiser version of himself and kept his intentionality so I feel good about the taste of practice he'll get today and hoping for no setbacks which I'm anticipating."
Q: LB Jordyn Brooks said yesterday that this was the toughest training camp he's been a part of. What do you hope the residuals are from having such a tough camp?
"I'm hoping for a collective team that handles adversity better than opponents. I think one thing that was important for this team that I kind of knew from a human EQ element they were going to be responsive to directives and teaching, and if you can present challenges, it's very important to them but there is a whole process of a football team being able to be their best. You have to learn how to handle adversity at every stretch. Whether it's a competitive practice, whether it's a practice where you didn't know it was tackle until it was tackle, like all of these things are great because we need to focus on football through it all. Picturing how the season could go and the different things that we've learned as a team the last couple of years, I didn't think there should be a governor on how many challenges we could present because I believe in the individuals and they've responded at every turn thus far as a collective group which was very important for long vision and controlling what we can control."
Q: How much do you appreciate having T Kendall Lamm back and where do you think he stands now compared to when you last had him?
"I was really fired up for his teammates and for the Dolphins. You talk about a guy that makes people better just by his existence alone on top of his own play. This is a guy that his teammates were supremely happy to see come back. I think overall it's nice to have him just jump back into the mix after our team has changed significantly since he was last here. That in-house litmus test I think provides positive residuals towards what this team has been building."
Q: Is there some guys that are more fun or more challenging to pick their lockermates? WR Tyreek Hill, FB Alec Ingold or QB Tua Tagovailoa – big personalities, smaller personalities?
"I'm going to start having my assistant take notes somewhere mid-April when I'm making these decisions before these guys are together every day. I have a great time with it just because it nuanced – there's never the same reason to do anything. Sometimes it's like one time a guy got into a competitive argument in training camp last year with a player across the ball. OK, in April they're lockermates. Or there's a young guy that I think has a history that's similar to a veteran player that they might otherwise not connect on, or I haven't seen this player talk to the opposite side of the ball in a long time, so let's put him right in the mix of three opposite side of the ball players. There is a litany of reasons. Ultimately, it comes down to if you extrapolate the amount of time that you're at your locker over the course of the season, there's a lot of reps and the people next to each other get to have a lot of conversations on hard days and successful days and unsuccessful days. All of those things I think are geared towards building the team that's invested in each other so the little things are done appropriately or the difficult things are done appropriately when it matters most."
Q: I wanted to ask you about the Panthers coming here, bringing a Stanley Cup and talking about how important team bonding is. I'm not a Panthers fan – I am a Panthers fan but I'm not educated enough to talk about it. But talking to Steve Goldstein, he would talk about how those guys if they went to Dairy Queen, the whole team went to Dairy Queen. How important is that speech and somebody who has done it talking to them about that connectivity?
"Well I think it was very powerful in that the team had decided before that speech, well before that speech, that not only were those relationships important based on their professional experience but important enough to really lean into. The orchestrated unit or position dinners and outings were probably tenfold from years in the past because they valued it. And then to hear not just a one-time champion but it doesn't get more difficult than being a repeat champion, to hear that same emphasis I think was powerful in their own confidence in what they're doing. I think it's as simple as any team, any sport, you're going half the year-plus where every day you're working towards something and at some point, you realize, 'All right, based on result, this teams either going to continue or it's going to end.' And in those moments, for someone to be their best, they need to worry about their own technique and fundamentals and not the result. The only way to do that is to have absolute trust and conviction that the guy alongside you is going to do exactly what he's supposed to do. So then you're playing a game in a high stakes – you're playing a game that you're going to want to win more than anything. How do you have success in those moments? You have a string team that trusts and is connected with each other so that your best is not only embraced but standardized as one-eleventh of the formula and guys can play together because that's all you're building. You're building eleven people working in unison on every play, every concept, offense or defense. You're trying to get eleven to move as one and to do that real relationships, real investment have to occur which is what you can't take a day off from to create a unique group that's tighter than the next."
Q: With running back, a couple things. RB Jaylen Wright, does he need surgery? Do you expect him back at some point in September?
"He did have a small procedure. That is I would say September-ish; it's not season-ending, not even close to that, but it will take some time. That was the impetus to sign both Jeff Wilson Jr. and JaMycal Hasty, which I think I just broke."
Q: With Jeff Wilson Jr., I know General Manager Chris Grier was telling us yesterday that he talked to T Kendall Lamm before signing. Did you do that with Jeff? Obviously you guys have had a strong bond, strong relationship. Any competitor wants to play, did you check his headspace, his mindset in a call with him before you guys added him to the practice squad?
"The lengths that we go I don't want to reveal, but I'll go as far as teleporting if I have to. I think the biggest thing is that you need to make sure that you're in like-vision of what you're asking someone to come do, or what's going to be expected of them. I think Jeff (Wilson Jr.) is in a great spot where he's mentally ready to be his absolute best self and contribute to this football team in the way that his best self can as an awesome teammate that definitely rises to the occasion in moments, which is what teammates love about him. So they were very excited to get him in the building, as we were."
Q: What did you see in JaMycal Hasty's game that led to the signing?
"Well back in the day, I think it was COVID, when I was with the 49ers, we signed JaMycal Hasty and 'SA' (Salvon Ahmed). Right when he came in the door in San Francisco, he stood out in kind of similar fashion to the traits of our rookie class here this year, where it was like this is a professional wise beyond his years that will continue to grow and get better at everything we ask. He's had plays from under center. I think the first time he got an explosive run was in 2021 against Philly, and then I watched him put together some of his best routes and be a pass game threat down the stretch of a couple important seasons. So I have a ton of familiarity with him as well. As I think (Associate Head Coach/Tight Ends) Coach (Jon) Embree and (Senior Passing Game Coordinator) Bobby Slowik, they have relationship with him as well as Jeff (Wilson Jr.), so we're coming full circle here with our football journeys."
Q: Have you had a chance to see the new uniforms that your team is going to wear this year? I believe it's going to be the Monday Night Game against the Jets.
"Oh yeah, I saw those a long time ago. You guys just saw them?"
Q: Your thoughts on it?
"I've been reassured that every player will have the same uniform, so that's my starting point of importance. I think it's cool to have our own shade of blue at nighttime, so that's what I got."
Q: When you say you saw it a long time ago, do they present it to you and you say I like it, I don't like it. Let's change the color–
"Here at the Dolphins we just like coordination, collaboration. I don't think I was shown it with the idea that I was going to say yes or no to it. I think it was more just like, 'Hey, figured you want to know what's going on.' That's a whole layer of novice, of uniform creation, I wouldn't even want to jump into anyway. That would stress me out, I'm focused on football and presently the last practice before the week of the game Week 1. Again, I'm glad they're all the same, because that's how I understand the uniform to be."
