MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — There have been moments during the first five games of the season when Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has shown the arm talent and athleticism that made new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley bring him over from Green Bay to usher in a new era in Miami.
There have also been challenges — such as issues with accuracy and decision-making that were evident in Sunday's 31-24 loss to Cincinnati. Willis began the game
0-for-4 and didn’t complete a pass until the second quarter, finishing 15 of 27 for 137 yards and a touchdown passing and rushing. He threw two interceptions. And he lost a fumble for the third game in a row.
Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said he's not considering any quarterback changes, but stressed the need for improvement from Willis and the Dolphins' passing game.
Hafley also cautioned against placing the sole blame on Willis, who started just the 11th game of his career and is leading a young offense with mostly inexperienced receivers who are still developing chemistry.
“We need to be better. Malik needs to be better, OK?" Hafley said. "That’s not the headline. The headline is we all need to be better, and I mean that.”
Willis has completed just 56.2% of his passes this season and has more interceptions (four) than passing touchdowns (two). He appeared unsettled to begin Sunday's game, missing open receivers on a couple of instances and throwing picks to Bengals safety Jordan Battle on back-to-back drives in the second quarter.
Still, Willis has shown his ability to elevate Miami's rushing attack with his legs. His 74 yards rushing on Sunday were the most ever by a Dolphins quarterback in a single game. He had a 39-yard run in the fourth that was the longest rush by a quarterback this season, and the longest by a Dolphins QB since Ryan Tannehill had a 40-yard scamper during a game in 2014.
“So there’s times it’s great,” Hafley said. “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.”
Willis said he was encouraged by Miami's ability to pull within a touchdown late but added at some point, the young Dolphins will need the results to match their effort.
“It is too much and too hard to keep saying, ‘We’re just young’ or ‘We’re trying to build this and build that,’” Willis said. "At the same time, we've got to hold each other accountable because we can’t keep doing this to ourselves. If we’re going to be in games versus good teams, we've got to be able to take advantage of it and go and win those games, because there’s no point to be in the game if you can’t go and win it."
The Dolphins have stuck with their run-first identity despite losing star running back De'Von Achane for the season a couple of weeks ago. Third-year running back Ollie Gordon has led a solid rushing attack the past two games, and Miami's run blocking has improved.
The Dolphins' pass rush was not able to replicate the success it had when it had four sacks against Kyler Murray in Week 4. Miami didn't generate much pressure against Joe Burrow, failing to get a sack in a game for the fourth time this season.
Gordon. One week after rushing for a career-high 100 yards against Minnesota, he had 18 carries for 88 yards against Cincinnati, including a 22-yard rush and a 1-yard rushing touchdown. He has three TDs in his past three games, matching his total from last season.
Special teams. Chris Tabor's unit has had a rough start to the season and began Sunday's game by giving up an 81-yard kickoff return. Jaylen Wright also fumbled a kick return — before recovering it — and kicker Riley Patterson missed an extra point and had a kickoff fall short of the landing zone.
RG Jonah Savaiinaea injured his ankle in the second quarter Sunday, and cornerback JuJu Brents left with a stinger.
68.4% — Willis' passer rating through the first five games, which is the worst among the 20 quarterbacks who have started all five of their teams' games this season.
The Dolphins have a bye during Week 6, which Hafley said the team will use to get healthy and evaluate the performance of both players and coaches.
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