‘I don’t have time to get frustrated’—Jeff Hafley just called dibs on solving the Miami Dolphins’ biggest issue through the first two weeks
The Miami Dolphins do not have a sack through the first two weeks of the 2026 NFL season. Jeff Hafley left no doubt whose job it is to fix that.
The Miami Dolphins‘ defense has endured a baptism by fire over the course of the last two weeks. Veteran quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Brock Purdy have enjoyed productive days at the office against Miami. And the Dolphins have given up too many points.
Splash plays would go a long way in turning the tide. The Dolphins logged two interceptions against the Raiders but had no takeaways against San Francisco. But the biggest issue remains the pass rush. More specifically, just how absent pressure has been to find. But head coach Jeff Hafley has called dib on finding a fix. Put it on him.
Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley is ready to tackle the team’s pass rush issue
“I look back to my first year in Green Bay and early on we weren’t generating any pressure. So we had to change and we had to evolve and we had to put guys in different positions. And it took a lot of work and we developed a lot of new stuff and a lot of new calls and we figured out — I think for any of us, we have to look at, ‘OK, this is what we thought, this is who we have, and we’re not generating pressures. So just because that’s worked for me elsewhere, if it’s not working, what do I need to do?’
I need to do the same thing that I did. I need to figure out something different to do, maybe with different players in certain spots, maybe adding a tweak or two to scheme, maybe totally changing the scheme in order to generate pressure. That’s the job of a coach and that’s my job to do and that’s my job to figure out. I don’t have time to get frustrated—I understand what’s ahead of me (and) I understand the process that we’re in right now.”
— Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley
A glimmer of hope, believe it or not
I love this, man. I don’t love no sacks in two games. I’m sure you don’t, either. But you know who is probably more unhappy about it than us? Hafley. And the players. They know they need to find something different here. And while there may not be wholesale reinforcements coming down the pipe to aid the issue, there are still different buttons to push from a scheme perspective.
Maybe that means more man coverage and a higher blitz rate. Perhaps that means different fronts. Maybe that means personnel changes. The team will get some reinforcements in the coming weeks, as former first-round pick Chop Robinson returns from a concussion and (hopefully) Kenneth Grant returns from injured reserve. The collective fanbase feels like they’ve generally written off both. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say they are the two most physically gifted defensive lineman on the roster.
Hafley’s seen challenges like this before. Maybe not with the roster limits that face the 2026 Miami Dolphins. But his perspective here is perfect. A coach’s job is to solve the problems of how to play their best with what they have. And as he gets to know this roster better, I would imagine that the scheme will take shape around what they have. The question is how fast that evolution settles into place? And how many buttons pressed it requires to get there.
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