Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley took to the podium and harped on details not being good enough following the team's preseason loss.
The Miami Dolphins need to take a long, hard look at their depth and figure out what it is they need to do, or who it is they need to bring in to help the backend of the roster.
Following the routing by the New York Giants, which led to a 26-3 final score, it was much more than the final score that painted much concern over where the roster currently stands. It was the current roster and the "details" that head coach Jeff Hafler harped on following the loss.
Those details that Hafley is speaking of have to do with the sheer outpacing that the Dolphins were hit with.
In terms of some of those differences, the Dolphins were outpaced 390 total yards to 102. The Giants also had 26 first downs to Miami's 3, 257 passing yards to 52, 133 rushing yards to 50, and 41 minutes of possession to 19.
Simply put, the Dolphins were outclassed in just about every way imagininable.
To be fair, the idea behind preseason is for the backend of the roster to be evaluated and improved in a major way if need be. It certainly needs to be, and there is an expectation that the Dolphins will be looking heavily at players who are cut on Aug. 30.
That said, Hafley spoke with his usual forthcoming style, stating that the "details" were the most disappointing aspect of the loss.
"Just the details aren't good enough right now, you know, and that's some guys that we're going to count on for depth, you know, and I told him that at halftime," Hafley said "I said, you know, these are important moments, you know, it's preseason, and I want to see who can step up and who we can count on as we get ready to go towards the 53."
Hafley simply told the team what many of them should already know. They are playing for their football lives, which is something the head coach has stated on numerous occasions.
The Dolphins head coach mentioned many of the issues that were present on special teams, penalties of which the team now has 15 through two weeks, and the fumbles from players like running back Ollie Gordon II.
"So, when you try to evaluate it and you're playing from the, you know, the minus five in, it's hard. It's really hard. It's hard for Bobby to call it. It's hard to play it. But those are self-inflicted. That's what's disappointing. So, we're not where we need to be," Hafley said.
Hafley has been nothing but direct in what he feels about certain situations, and he has been adamant that process and fundamentals need to be at the forefront of the team's play. This is what led him to bench Gordon in the first preseason game after the back made a mistake on a post-snap penalty that led to a loss of a sizable gain.
General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan had to work with what he could, which was a poor cap situation after the team released quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, linebacker Bradley Chubb, and more. Tagovailoa alone will cost over $90 million in dead cap money.
Considering the cap situation that Sullivan was handed, he has done the best with what he had to work with. The majority of the Dolphins roster is made up of low-cost veterans who have come over from other teams, UDFAs hoping for a chance at a roster spot, and rookies who were just brought into the building.
The issue with the roster construction is it is operating in exactly how it was built.
Miami has some very good starting talent with quarterback Malik Willis, the offensive line, running back De'Von Achane, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, and more. The issue is that beyond the starters is where things get a bit dicey.
That is not to mention the backup quarterback situation, which saw both passers only manage 52 passing yards collectively.
One of the main ways a team can fail in the regular season is when injuries occur and the depth pieces cannot step in to keep the roster together. As it stands right now, there needs to be players who step up, or the Dolphins need to bring in some players who will.
