The Miami Dolphins, after bringing in Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan to run the show in South Florida, signed quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract to be their starter for the 2026 season, and through five weeks, it hasn't gone well.
On Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, Willis completed just 55.6% of his passes for 137 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also fumbled the ball away inside their own 10-yard line, leading to a Bengals field goal.
After the game, Miami's head coach offered a very blunt assessment of Willi's performance against Cincinnati in Week 5.
"Well, one, I know you can't turn the ball over three times," Hafley said. "I mean, you just, you can't do it. To play that team and it's a seven-point game at the end of the game, you can't (turn it over that much). You're never going to win a game turning the ball over three times. And then when we get down to the one -yard line, we got to score....
"We got to look hard at it during the bye week. We talk about ball security all the time, and we work on it, and we've got to do a better job of putting him in those situations, and he's got to have the awareness to protect the ball as well. We'll take a hard look at fixing that because we're not going to win games if we're fumbling the ball like that."
The Dolphins don't have a game to play in Week 6, so this is a great time to evaluate, reflect and prepare for the rest of the season. While it was clear to everyone that Miami wouldn't be one of the best teams in the league this year, they've looked worse than most probably expected.
With an 0-5 record through five weeks and a tough slate of games remaining after their bye, the Dolphins need everyone to step and play better if they want to win a single game in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Jeff Hafley had blunt assessment of Malik Willis' game vs. Bengals