MIAMI GARDENS ― Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis and the offense need to be better, coach Jeff Hafley said the Monday after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals to fall to 0-5.
"We need to be better," Hafley said. "Malik Willis needs to be better, okay? And that's not the headline. The headline is we all need to be better."
Hafley said he is not considering a change to backup Kyle McCord.
"We've played five games, and Malik Willis is our quarterback," Hafley said.
Hafley did agree with the raised notion that Willis can improve in the areas of progressions and decision-making.
"Sure," Hafley said. "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 re-hitched and he threw a great ball in on an over route. So there's times like that, it's great. And then there's times where 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."
Noteworthy
Guard Jonah Savaiianea (ankle) is "doing okay," according to Hafley... Will Hafley consider any major changes during the bye? "I don't wanna say no, because I wanna, we just finished with the team, right?" Hafley said. "So I went through the normal day, I went through the team meeting. I'm gonna take tonight, I'm gonna take the rest of the bye week, and we're gonna look at everything."... Kenneth Grant was "solid" in his season debut, Hafley said... Trey Moore and Kyle Louis won't return to practice this week... The Dolphins have been poor on special teams. "They're all different situations, and all the guys that you mentioned, we're counting on those veteran players to do their job to the best of their ability," Hafley said. "And whether it's in the punt game, whether it's making our PATs and our extra points, whether it's kicking the ball, you know, whether it's we're trying to kick a touchback or we're trying to kick the ball deep left, we got to, just like any other position, we're counting on those veterans to do their job and do them at a high level."
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Threads and Instagram and X at @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley on Malik Willis, special teams
