Milton Williams Has a Message About the Dolphins’ 1-5 Record Before Sunday

The New England Patriots head to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday at 2-0 in AFC East play, and defensive tackle Milton Williams said Thursday that the Miami Dolphins' 1-5 record has nothing to do with how he is preparing.

New England beat the Buffalo Bills 29-26 on the road Oct. 4 and beat the New York Jets 26-19 at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 18. A win in Miami would put the Patriots at 3-0 in the division, the same start they had in 2025.

Miami won for the first time this season last Sunday, beating the Jets 28-25. That result also has the Dolphins at 1-0 in the AFC East.

Malik Willis is a playmaker at quarterback for Miami, and he can hurt New England if the Patriots let him use his legs. Williams wants the whole front on the same page and staying in its rushing lanes.

"100%, 100%," Williams said. "I don't care what their overall record is. Y'all hear me say that every week. I don't care who we play, what their record is. We got to put our best foot forward. Everything else is taken care of itself."

The Dolphins average 131.5 rushing yards per game, seventh in the NFL, according to the Patriots' game release. New England allows 95.3 per game on the ground, which ranks eighth.

Willis has 223 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 35 carries through six games, and his 23 scrambles are tied with Drake Maye for the most in the league, per Roundtable's Eddie Marotta. Ollie Gordon II has taken over as Miami's lead back since De'Von Achane went on season-ending injured reserve with a torn ACL after a Sept. 27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Gordon has 339 yards and four touchdowns on 72 carries.

Through seven games, the Patriots have 17 sacks. Miami has allowed 16.

In the Patriots' 33-27 win at Miami on Sept. 14, 2025, Williams finished with two sacks, including a 9-yard sack on fourth down with 53 seconds left that sealed the game. It was his first two-sack game with New England.

That was Williams' second game after signing a four-year, $104 million contract in March 2025 that included $63 million guaranteed. He finished that regular season with 29 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 12 games, then added three sacks in four playoff games.

Cornerback Carlton Davis III has missed four of the first seven games with a neck injury. He practiced in full Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, as did safety Kevin Byard III (chest) and cornerbacks Channing Canada (hamstring) and Karon Prunty (hamstring).

Miami will have watched how New England plays and will likely have something ready for it, Williams said.

"It's good. It's good. It's good to get them guys back to a full unit, everybody back in their normal spots," Williams explained. "We'll continue to work on the communication and the familiarity back there. A lot of guys be in and out, so different voices, different play styles."

"Them guys getting back around each other, going back out there competing, it's good for them, but also good for us up front," Williams added. "They give us an extra [tick] to get back there, and we try to win fast and not have them cover as long. So we've got a good relationship."

Davis is still listed as questionable for Sunday. Byard, Canada, and Prunty carry no game status.

The 2025 Patriots went 8-0 on the road in the regular season, the third undefeated road record in franchise history after 2007 and 2016. They added a road win in the AFC Championship Game at Denver.

This season, New England is 1-3 away from Gillette Stadium. The Patriots lost 13-10 at Seattle and 35-6 at Jacksonville, won at Buffalo, and lost 30-24 to the Chicago Bears on Oct. 22.

A division game on the road is where a team has to be ready for anything and everything, in Williams' view. He said he learned that lesson by underestimating an opponent and losing.

"It's a division game," Williams said. "We know we're going on the road. We've got to win on the road in this league. And last year that was just a mentality and a mindset. I'm pretty sure we got the same mindset and mentality this year. Maybe we haven't talked about it as much just because we haven't played too many games on the road like we did last year."

"No, but we wanna do that," Williams continued. "We wanna go undefeated every week, home, road, it don't matter. We're trying to get a win no matter what."

The Patriots are 14-25 all-time at the Dolphins' current home stadium, according to the team's series breakdown. They swept Miami last season, winning 33-27 on the road and 38-10 at home on Jan. 4. A win Sunday would be their third straight in the series.

Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS. The two teams meet again in the regular-season finale at Gillette Stadium, a game the NFL has not yet scheduled.