The 0-5 Dolphins are limping into their bye week, looking for any kind of answer, but one thing is crystal clear: benching quarterback Malik Willis is absolutely not on coach Jeff Hafley’s radar. Reporters pressed Hafley on Monday about the possibility of switching to Kyle McCord for Week 7, and his response was a flat out, “No.”
Hafley’s Stance on Willis: “Malik Is Our Quarterback”
When asked to elaborate on his thinking, Hafley kept it short and direct. “We’ve played five games and Malik is our quarterback,” he said. The coach acknowledged the persistent questions about Willis, stating, “as far as the Malik questions, again, I totally respect all the questions and I get everybody has a job to do, so good question.” It’s clear Hafley knows everyone’s watching, but he’s standing firm on his QB. He stressed that while Willis needs to be better, it’s not just about one guy.
It’s a Team Game: The Real Problem Isn’t Just One Player
Hafley made it sound like the issues go way deeper than just the signal-caller. “We need to be better. Malik needs to be better, OK? And that’s not the headline. The headline is we all need to be better, and I mean that.” He pointed to a silver lining in their last game, noting, “I thought yesterday for the first time we ran the ball really well and we moved the ball. We ran for 200 yards against a really good team.” That’s a huge positive, right? But then he hit on the elephant in the room. “But everything in the pass game has to be better, right? It’s the receivers, it’s the tight ends, it’s the protection. It all has to tie in and it all has to be better.” This isn’t just a quarterback problem in Hafley’s eyes. He sees it as a full team effort from “the quarterback, that’s the coaches, that’s the offensive line, that’s the running backs, that’s the tight ends. This is a team game that we all need to be more efficient and we need to be better.”
The Dolphins are heading into their bye week with a lot to figure out. Hafley’s commitment to Willis is unwavering for now, but the entire team needs to step up if they want to turn this season around after the break.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
Leave a Reply