Jeff Hafley Sticks With Malik Willis at Quarterback as 0-5 Dolphins Head Into Their Bye Week

Malik Willis will remain the Miami Dolphins' starting quarterback when the team returns from its bye week, coach Jeff Hafley said Monday, a day after a 31-24 home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals left Miami 0-5. Hafley said he is not considering a switch to backup Kyle McCord, but he made clear that the passing game, and Willis with it, has to improve. "Malik needs to be better, OK? And that's not the headline," Hafley said, according to ESPN. "The headline is we all need to be better, and I mean that."

Asked directly whether McCord would start against the New York Jets after the bye, Hafley answered no, according to the team's transcript of the news conference. "We've played five games and Malik is our quarterback," he said.

The case Hafley made

Hafley pointed to Sunday's running game as evidence the offense can move the ball. Miami ran for 200 yards against Cincinnati. "I thought yesterday for the first time we ran the ball really well and we moved the ball," he said, according to ESPN. "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."

He spread the responsibility across the roster and the staff, listing the quarterback, coaches, offensive line, running backs and tight ends. "It's been five weeks," he said. He also told reporters he would be lying to say nothing would change during the bye, and that he would look at everything, according to the team transcript.

Willis by the numbers

The numbers explain why the question was asked. Through five games, Willis has completed 56.2% of his passes, which ranks 31st in the NFL, and has thrown for 849 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions, according to ESPN. His passer rating ranks 23rd. He has added 186 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, but he has also fumbled five times and lost a fumble in each of the last three games.

Protection has been part of the problem. ESPN reported that Miami's offensive line, which returned its top four starters from last season, ranks in the middle of the league in pass block win rate, yet Willis is the fifth-most contacted quarterback in the league and the fourth-most sacked.

Hafley said ball security will be a focus of the bye. "We got to look hard at it during the bye week," he said, according to ESPN. "We're not going to win games if we're fumbling the ball like that."

What happened against Cincinnati

Sunday's loss at Hard Rock Stadium showed both sides of Willis. He threw two first-half interceptions and lost a fumble, and the Bengals scored 10 points off those turnovers, according to ESPN. At one point he had thrown more interceptions than completions. He finished 15 of 27 for 137 yards and a touchdown, and ran for a season-high 74 yards and a score.

Joe Burrow threw four touchdown passes for Cincinnati, to Mike Gesicki, Samaje Perine, Tanner Hudson and Ja'Marr Chase, according to the Dolphins' game recap. Ollie Gordon II led Miami with 88 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. The Dolphins trailed by 18 points before rallying to within seven on Willis' 1-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, but they failed to recover the onside kick that followed.

Afterward, Willis said the team could not keep leaning on its youth as an explanation. "It is too much and too hard to keep saying, 'Oh, we're just young,'" he said, according to ESPN.

The youngest team in the league

Miami's roster is the youngest in the NFL, and ESPN reported that 10 active rookies played a combined 455 snaps against the Bengals. That was without three more rookies, Caleb Douglas, Kyle Louis and Trey Moore, who are expected to play significant roles once healthy. Hafley said Monday he did not expect Moore or Louis to be available this week, according to the team transcript.

The schedule has not helped. ESPN noted that the Dolphins have played the league's third-hardest schedule through five weeks, and that the Bengals were the first opponent they faced that was not unbeaten. The last three games, against Kansas City, Minnesota and Cincinnati, were all one-score games in the fourth quarter. The season so far, according to ESPN:

Miami has not won since Dec. 28 of last season. Hafley, in his first year as head coach, said he does not believe his players will grow discouraged and described the team as building an identity around physicality and effort.

Bright spots Hafley pointed to

Not all of Monday's assessment was critical. Hafley praised cornerback Chris Johnson, who forced a fumble against Cincinnati, saying, "I love the confidence and the energy that he's playing with," according to the team transcript. He said Gordon is maturing and showing leadership, and he described defensive lineman Kenneth Grant's snaps against the Bengals as "Good" while saying the staff needs to get him going.

Hafley also addressed a goal-line decision by Gordon, explaining that on third down the risk of reaching the ball across the line is too high, while on fourth down a back has to reach because the team has to score. "We've all seen multiple times guys reach and it becomes a fumble," he said.

What it means for South Florida fans

For a fan base that has watched the team go five weeks without a win, the decision means the bye will be about fixing the current offense rather than changing its quarterback. Willis said the week should be about watching film and accountability. "He holds everybody accountable and he's honest with us," Willis said of Hafley, according to ESPN. "We got to figure out a way to get guys on the same page because there's just a lot left out on the field."

What's next

The Dolphins are off in Week 6 and return Sunday, Oct. 25, at the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS. ESPN Analytics rates it one of the most winnable games left on Miami's schedule. The Dolphins then come home to Hard Rock Stadium to face the New England Patriots on Nov. 1 and the Detroit Lions on Nov. 8.