Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel's press conference on September 22, 2025.
Q: With OL Jonah Savaiinaea, has there been any thought given to playing him on his natural side in college, on the right side, and if not, what's the thinking of leaving him at left at this point?
"I think you're looking at a player's strengths and weaknesses and then you're looking at do some of his strengths either get empowered or are you helping the player moving them to the right side. I think the way he approaches everything and one of the reasons why we tried it early is that I think he feels most comfortable where he's at right now in our offense. If there were things that were happening to him that I thought would be alleviated by playing on the right, I would absolutely do that, but for him, some of the things that have – both his good plays and his bad plays at this point, the way he's really gone all in, we haven't measured as a side issue which is why we haven't thought to do that."
Q: What's different about the Jets now under Head Coach Aaron Glenn than the previous times you've faced him?
"They're schematically different. I think they're going through – Coach Aaron Glenn, I have the utmost respect for him and he sees football differently than the last regime so they emphasize different things. There are some overlapping players and the uniforms most of the time are the same. I don't think they will be for this Monday night, right? Outside of that, it's a new team and they have their own identity. Just yesterday they had a game where a lot of teams might have tapped, they sure didn't. Had a heartbreaker so they'll be a new team with a new energy which makes them very different as an opposing team for us."
Q: What's the plan this week for TE Darren Waller? Since we couldn't go without a Darren Waller question today.
"To practice specifically to play in the next game."
Q: Will he be on a snap count?
"Yes. What that is, it's probably more situational, but I wouldn't go to all these lengths, have all this build up and then throw him out there for 60 or something. I kind of have an idea roughly what it is, but we'll see if that idea plays through the practice week. We're excited to see him, but it will be on some sort of situational snap count or packaged type thing as opposed to just unleashing him."
Q: Obviously when you think of TE Darren Waller, we think of a red zone target. What's the element that he adds to this offense that hasn't been there?
I would say he's probably, just off the hoof, he's the opposite of the eligibles that we have outside of Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine). He has gigantic range and catch radius, and he's a very big human being that moves really fast. I think he has his own set of skill sets, but we all know of the name 'Darren Waller' because he is unique in his skill set in general. I think he brings a dynamic participator in 11-on-11 football, and whether he has the ball or if he's just on the field, I think defenses have to account for him."
Q: It was I guess around this point in RB De'Von Achane's rookie year that we started to see him kind of pop, and not to say that RB Ollie Gordon II is the next De'Von, but have you seen any sort of parallels between how the first three, four games of their rookie years went?
"I think rookies in general, sometimes they are not afforded the buffer of playing into the role. De'Von (Achane) was a great example; Patrick Paul and Malik Washington are examples from last year where you're not playing early, so then you kind of find your way in by making plays. It's probably the ideal scenario, all things equal, for the individual. It takes a certain mindset to not start but then find ways to make plays with and without the ball and find your role on the football team. I see a young player that has risen to every challenge, continues to work. He contributes on special teams which he didn't in college at all. I would say that there was probably – it's right around the end of September where his number was called and he made some plays so that is similar, but I think Ollie is unique to his own skill set. He's definitely helped us in a variety of ways this past game. That was kind of the intent we had when we drafted him, but players go at their own speed and learn the adjustment to the National Football League. The biggest thing is you want to see those guys still play with the tenacity that is the reason why you wanted to draft him, even though it's a different game – the NFL is different from college in a multitude of ways. I think he's done a good job, he's going to continue to be challenged in a multitude of ways both owning the playbook, owning his assignments. The more that he can own the variety of alignments, assignments and responsibilities, the more we can involve him and have him in not just in on run plays or play action plays, but he can do a lot of things as we continue to grow. It's one step at a time for him, so it was good to get him contributing. The veteran players on the football team, you could tell that they wanted him, when he was in there, to get a couple touches because they believe in him as we do."
Q: On that same topic, obviously we saw you use RB De'Von Achane and RB Raheem Mostert some together in 2023. With RB Ollie Gordon II, again not to give away any game planning stuff, but using him with De'Von some, do you think it's realistic or do you think it wouldn't work a lot because you obviously have WR Malik Washington as a skilled slot beside WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill. Could you see something there that could be maximized?
"Yeah, I think there were a couple plays that they were both out there together this past game, and it kind of speaks to what I was talking about. You can use two backs on the field at the same time as much as they can handle that learning workload because essentially what you're doing is you're taking a halfback who has all of his responsibilities on his plate and adding a receiver/tight end type 'F' responsibilities to that player. We'll do that as much as how many play calls we get. A package like that can only expand if the players allow for it because they're locked in and executing. And then what you alluded to, the competition is fierce and you have to be able to execute in whatever personnel group you have out there because if you have one personnel group out there, you don't have another. So there's an opportunity cost. The Maliks (Washington), or the Darren Wallers we were talking about, or the Alec Ingolds, those guys, their snap counts are always adjusted. You're trying to find a perfect mix, but it's certainly something that we have done and will continue to do depending on the schematic advantage and the advantage it provides for the Dolphins over the opponent."
Q: I suppose the benefit of a short week is it gives you a long weekend to kind of reassess some things. Whether it was self-scouting or some downtime for you guys, how do you think the extra time off might be able to benefit you going forward?
"I think fresh off of two division losses and still in September with a young team, I think it was fortuitous to have some extra time because you're really pressing. Realistically besides the weekend before the Week 1 prep, you don't have that time off for all your young players starting the third week of July on. So for them to collect their bearings and get proactive with their schedule, as well as a team, just being able to collectively focus on what's important, which is our football team, our football as it relates to our next opponent. I think it has been beneficial. I think the guys – always after a Thursday night game, it's such a taxing endeavor for their bodies, so I think it was a good weekend spent for us to get back to work because I'm never mad at people having better perspective on how important the work week is. You lose on Thursday night and you have to sit on it all weekend; that gets people as motivated as you can hope as you get into the next opponent, which is what we absolutely need to do."
Q: You mentioned WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine when asked about TE Darren Waller. Why haven't you been able to get him more involved in the offense – I see five targets, three catches through three games – with his size and how it complements the rest of the receivers?
"I think he's done a great job being very involved in the offense. Each game is specific to itself. He was the primary on the touchdown to Tyreek Hill that the backers kind of got underneath. He's made his impact in a multitude of ways, and when that happens, I don't front-end stress about guys that are finding ways to make plays without the ball, because then you end up putting them on the field more and the ball finds them. I think he'll continue to progress in this offense, but he's certainly a guy that I think can help us with the way he plays the game with physicality whether he has the ball or not. He's been an active participator and I'm sure his catches will come whether that's through a progression or continuing to gain plays where he's the primary or No. 1 in the progression, which for this team, you're battling a lot of people to be No. 1, so he'll continue to do that and continue to get opportunities as he continues to play effective football."
Q: I wanted to go back for a minute to the idea of self-scouting. I wanted to ask you about the turnover situation. Both offensively in terms of the giveaways and defensively the lack of takeaways, what stands out to you?
"I think before, I guess I would say it was five minutes left in the game, I thought we did a good job protecting the football and then you learn the hard way what a bang-bang play can do, and I think the team learned through a meeting we just had and realistically during the game that it's a group effort. It's not just the quarterback distributing the ball but the protection in certain situations and eligibles where they need to be. You can't turn the ball over on the road and expect to win with a high percentage. I think defensively our takeaways will improve as our collective football improves. I think we found a way to get some stops that it felt like the defense we were expecting coming into the season that second half. You start to get stops, you start to be ahead of the chains on first and second down, you get offenses to do riskier things which lead to takeaways. That's my starting point. It's not good enough, and I think the way we really attacked the offseason, I felt good about where we were at in terms of where it was on our minds. I thought we did some good preparation for our ball carriers as the result has been we haven't been fumbling the ball a ton with that cross-training, but certainly we've spent the weekend trying to figure out different ways to get that monumental win-loss indicator in our favor, because we went up to Buffalo with the full knowledge throughout the whole week that they had 24 games in a row, now 25, in the plus or without losing the turnover differential. So that's something in our game that has to be a feature. We have to find ways to take the ball away and continue to not just protect the ball for 55 minutes but all 60."
Q: Any progress with CB Storm Duck now two weeks removed from the injury?
"I think he's progressing. I don't have my hopes up for this next game. It's a little early. Soon after that I'm hoping, but I can almost rule him out this week just because of the timing."
Q: And do you intend to move K Riley Patterson to the 53 at some point this week?
"I do."
Q: Anything you can share with regard to whether OL Liam Eichenberg is eligible to come off PUP in week? Is he at all close or you think it's still a ways away?
"I think what he's dealing with is of the chronic nature, so as of right now that's going to take more time. I would say that's going to take a little more time."
