Two years ago, Jordyn Brooks stood in the locker room after a game and told the media that the Miami Dolphins were soft. They were. Under Mike McDaniel, both sides of the ball were never truly a physical group of players.
Fast forward two games into a bad season in 2026, and Brooks isn't standing at a microphone saying this team is soft. If there is one thing we have learned from him over the years, he doesn't lie, and he doesn't hold his tongue. Brooks spoke with the media following the loss to the 49ers, and he has a different message about this year's team.
"This won't unravel," Brooks said. "We got the right guys in the locker room."
Miami Dolphins defensive leader believes this team is going to get better
Following the game on Sunday, Brooks took to the microphone with his typically stoic expression and made it clear that this team continues to fight. He knows there are mistakes, but he also said he would rather those mistakes happen now, while it's still early enough in the season to fix them.
Brooks noted that the Dolphins' defense improved against the run a week after giving up more than 100 yards on the ground to the Raiders. They gave up 95 to the 49ers and less than 30 to Christian McCaffrey.
Somewhere between the first half and the second half, however, the Dolphins forgot what they were doing. The team imploded in the second half. As Brooks pointed out in his press conference, the Dolphins continued to make simple mistakes, and those mistakes cost them points.
It's hard to beat a team like the 49ers when your offense is moving backward, and your defense is put into bad field position. But there are also the positions the defenders were putting themselves in.
Brooks pointed out that it wasn't just one thing. It was little things: one person misses an assignment on one play; someone else does it the next, and so on. The Dolphins use the term "1-11th" when referring to their job on the team, but as a team, they are making critical mistakes at the wrong time.
Next week it won't get any easier, and the week after that will be just as tough. Miami faces the Chiefs in their first home game at Hard Rock Stadium, but then travels to Minnesota.
The chances of Miami losing all 17 games this year are possible, but if they continue to work, that possibility will dwindle. We said the biggest challenge for Jeff Hafley in 2026 was going to be keeping his team motivated as the losses mounted. If what Brooks is saying is true, that may not be a problem.
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