The Miami Dolphins will not be playing football this weekend — which if you’ve been watching the last five weeks, may be a good thing. Typically, during a bye week, teams will evaluate what they have at each position and decide if changes need to be made.
Despite the cries for Miami to make a move at the quarterback position from an impatient fanbase, the Dolphins have no plans to bench Malik Willis in favor of backup, Kyle McCord.
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On Monday, following a 31-24 loss in which in Willis had three turnovers — two interceptions and a fumble lost — Dolphins rookie head coach Jeff Hafley met with the South Florida media and was understandably asked about his plans for the team’s starter at the QB position when they return from their break to face the New York Jets in week seven.
Are the Dolphins giving any thought to starting Kyle McCord against their division rival when they return to action? Hafley was blunt with his answer.
When asked to elaborate on his thinking, Hafley responded:
“We’ve played five games and Malik is our quarterback.”
Hafley would continue:
“Malik needs to be better, okay? And that’s not the headline. The headline is, we all need to be better. And I mean that. 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. But everything in the pass game has to be better. Okay? 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. And that’s the quarterback. That’s the coaches — the offensive line, the running backs… This is a team game… We will work through that. I have confidence in the coaches. I have confidence in the players that we have. We will work through that and we will get better. It’s five weeks.”
It’s clear Miami’s fanbase is frustrated — and considering the quarterback carousel that has been a staple of this team since the great Dan Marino retired over a quarter-century ago, who can blame them? However, Hafley is preaching patience. I agree with that approach.
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Rome wasn’t built in a day — and neither will a Miami Dolphins championship team be built in a little over a month of playing time.