No Dolphins player better embodies Miami’s midseason surge than Jack Jones — and his leap should have Miami weighing 2026 options no matter who is coaching
It was a rough start in Miami for Jack Jones — but it’s not about how you start. It’s how you finish.
The questions entering this season regarding the Miami Dolphins secondary were well-founded. Miami’s defensive struggles, particularly in the first six or seven (six, seven!) weeks of the season, were an exception part of the puzzle for Miami posting a 1-6 start that ultimately cost the team’s general manager, Chris Grier, his job with the team.
But a funny thing has happened along the way. The Dolphins’ defense has been getting progressively better, because all these new pieces that were slapped together late summer are learning to play with one another and taking to Miami’s scheme. One such player, cornerback Jack Jones, went on to be the Week 11 hero against Washington, logging a game-deciding interception in overtime. And the question now begs to be asked, even amid the uncertainty of the future of the team, if Jack Jones has earned a home in Miami again in 2026?
Jack Jones’ last six weeks of play should have Miami considering a 2026 return no matter who is coaching
Jones’ coverage splits between Weeks 1-5 and Weeks 6-11 are eye-popping but easily explained. Jones, as the team talked about in training camp, was having to learn to apply his ability into a scheme that put different stresses and assignments on him than he was accustomed to. The Dolphins want their cornerbacks to play physical at the line of scrimmage and disrupt route timing.
They infamously, it seems, threw him to the proverbial wolves for a joint-practice session with Detroit this summer and Amon-Ra St. Brown was rumored to score 10,000 touchdowns that day. In reality, Miami charged Jones with working on his technique and let him try to do so against one of the best receivers in football.
The struggles carried through to the first month of the season. But let’s explore how Jones has performed as of late, courtesy of several measures from Pro Football Focus’ advanced database.
| Jack Jones Performance | 2025 Weeks 1-5 | 2025 Weeks 6-11 |
| Passer Rating Allowed | 115.8 | 61.5 |
| Completion Percentage Allowed | 58.8% | 56.3% |
| Missed tackle Rate (In coverage) | 15% | 6.7% |
| Snaps per target | 11.7 | 10.2 |
Jones is averaging generally the same amount of volume of targets in coverage, along with nearly an equal amount of those targets converted into completions. But the yield of production amid those targets has nosedived, as the opposing passer rating when targeting Jones after Week 5 has been cut in half.
Jones’ most ugly moments this season came in Week 5, when he struggled in coverage, made poor tackling efforts, and was called for a deciding penalty that allowed Carolina to ice the clock and the game by conceding a fresh set of downs. His response since that moment on the field has been admirable.
It’s never been a lack of talent issue for Jones as he’s pin-balled around the league early in his career. He was waived from New England less than two years after entering the league and subsequently was cut by the Raiders after 24 games with another year remaining on his rookie contract this past offseason. He’s had his troubles with discipline, going back to issues like a team-leveed suspension in New England for violations of team rules and a series of gun charges that were eventually dropped in 2023 after he was arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport for citations stemming from inadvertently bringing firearms to the airport.
Jones appears to be enjoying his time in Miami — and most notably spent this week offering a full-throated vote of confidence for head coach Mike McDaniel on The Pat McAfee Show.
The biggest challenge here is, of course, we don’t know for sure if Mike McDaniel is going to be the football coach next season. That is, in all likelihood, in the hands of Jones and the rest of his Dolphins teammates to win down the stretch. But even if there’s a chance at the head coach position, Jones’ growth in play should warrant some consideration from whoever the team’s next general manager is to try to keep Jones in South Florida for the 2026 season. I’m not talking about a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension. But some players simply reach a point where their work is secured on an annual basis through one-year contracts.
Miami should let the rest of this season play out and, if Jones continues to play at a higher level, the Dolphins should consider entering this offseason with one less need than they currently tally. Getting Jones back on a one-year deal, assuming he’d sign it, should be strongly discussed. Even if the scheme and coaching ends up changing, there’s still value in being around players who know one another and much of Miami’s young defense will be back next year regardless.