Here\u2019s my piece<\/a> with notes, grades, metrics and playing time news on every player on defense.<\/p>\n This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 7:15 PM.<\/p>\n
Dolphins rookie safety Kyle Louis will miss Sunday\u2019s game in San Francisco and might be sidelined a few weeks because of a knee injury, coach Jeff Hafley said Monday evening.<\/p>\n
Louis, the Dolphins\u2019 No. 4 safety, played three snaps on defense and also played special teams during Sunday\u2019s season-opening 27-13 loss at Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Hafley addressed other issues during a Monday evening Zoom session from California, where the team will practice this week in advance of the game at the 49ers (4:25 p.m., Fox):<\/p>\n
\u25aa On the struggles with run defense in the first half: \u201cEarly on, we kind of played things safe. We had some missed alignments. We were a little tentative, trying to be too safe.<\/p>\n
As I watched in the second half, it was impressive how we played against the run. It was really a tale of two halves. Hopefully we get that out of our systems and build off it. There\u2019s some coaching there too. We have to make sure we\u2019re lining up in the right spots and seeing things the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa He said rookie cornerback Chris Johnson wasn\u2019t solely responsible for the two touchdown passes that he seemed to allow:<\/p>\n
\u201cOn those two plays, his help was not where it was supposed to be and he was playing the leverage he was supposed to be in; guys on the sidelines immediately took ownership for it. There are certainly some plays that Chris wants back. He showed a lot of flashes, played a solid game. He was good against the run in the nickel position. He had a good PBU [pass breakup].<\/p>\n
\u201cChris did a lot of good things yesterday and Chris should be confident he can do a lot of good things in this league. With all these rookies we\u2019re playing, there are going to be some really good moments and…some tough moments. We\u2019ve got to develop these guys and I don\u2019t want them to lose any confidence along the way. I\u2019m really proud of Chris.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa He declined to give an opinion about whether JuJu Brents\u2019 taunting penalty was justified.<\/p>\n
When Hafley said after the game that he would watch the film and shortly after said: \u201cIf it was indeed taunting, he will get fined for it\u201d — what Hafley meant was the league (not Hafley) would fine Brents if it was taunting.<\/p>\n
Hafley declined to say whether he thought it was a justified penalty, but it seemed like a bogus call unless Brents said something egregious.<\/p>\n
\u25aa On the play of the rookie receivers: \u201cThere was some really good, and some stuff we need to work on. There were some shots of Chris Bell blocking down the field and knocking some guys down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were some plays [Caleb Douglas] made that were really impressive, and some times there might have been a missed signal or a route was a little bit off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have three rookie receivers playing as many snaps as we did, it will continue to be a work in progress. I thought there were some really good encouraging moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa On how Malik Willis performed on off-schedule plays:<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly on, there were some really good off schedule throws, where he stepped up with his eyes down the field… and there were some where he had to go off schedule and they adjusted to our scramble rules and there were some that were not good enough. There were times we needed guys to break a certain way and he didn\u2019t. Those are things they will work on together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa On edge player Chop Robinson\u2019s play (he had one tackle and no quarterback pressures), he said: \u201cEarly on, I thought he was a little hesitant. If you watch the film, I don\u2019t think he set edges as violently as [he could]. As the game went on, he got better. We need him to pick up and make sure it\u2019s consistent throughout the game.<\/p>\n
That group of defensive ends \u201cwas a little too hesitant and too safe and not as violent and aggressive,\u201d Hafley said.<\/p>\n
\u25aa On special teams mistakes: \u201cWe\u2019ve got to play smart. That was a huge part of the game. Our starting field position wasn\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overall, the special teams performance \u201cwasn\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez – and not backup center Andrew Meyer – was the backup long snapper, when Tucker Addington briefly left with a shoulder injury, because Rodriguez has experience doing it and \u201cis good at it,\u201d Hafley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came pretty close\u201d to Rodriguez needing to long snap in the game. Hafley praised Addington for coming back into the game \u201cwith what he went through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s my piece<\/a> with notes, grades, metrics and playing time news on every player on offense.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s my piece<\/a> with notes, grades, metrics and playing time news on every player on defense.<\/p>\n This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 7:15 PM.<\/p>\n
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