Dolphins’ Hafley updates injuries, Willis, pass rush, more. And kickers audition

Miami Dolphins admin September 23, 2026 0 Comments

Dolphins’ Hafley updates injuries, Willis, pass rush, more. And kickers audition

The Dolphins got one starter back on Wednesday, but another is now sidelined.

Edge player Chop Robinson, who missed Sunday’s game against the 49ers while in concussion protocol, will resume practicing on Wednesday, coach Jeff Hafley said. He wasn’t wearing a red non-contact jersey, which is an encouraging sign.

But receiver Caleb Douglas isn’t practicing because of an ankle injury sustained in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the 49ers. Hafley declined to say if Douglas will practice at all this week or if he will play in Sunday’s home opener against Kansas City (1 p.m., CBS-4).

Douglas, who was wearing a walking boot after the game, has seven receptions for 113 yards in two games. While he heals, he could be replaced by a combination of Chris Bell, Ryan Miller and Jalen Tolbert.

Running back Jaylen Wright, who left in the second quarter of the 49ers game with a stinger, will be limited in Wednesday’s practice, Hafley said. As for Wright’s status for the rest of the week, we “will see how he is,” Hafley said.

Kickers audition

The Dolphins on Tuesday auditioned three kickers — but didn’t immediately sign any of them — two days after Riley Patterson missed a 51-yard field, his second miss in two weeks. The most experienced of the three was Lucas Havrisik, who is 19 for 24 on field goals and 26 for 31 on extra points in 12 games — nine for the Rams in 2023 and three for the Packers last season.

Havrisik, who attended school at Arizona, has a strong leg; he’s 3 for 4 on 50-plus yard field goals in his career. He set a Packers record by kicking a 61-yard field goal against Arizona last October.

The other two kickers have never kicked in an NFL regular season game: Chris Freeman, who went 20 for 26 and 23 for 26 as Connecticut’s kicker the past two years and was cut by the Texans in August; and Tanner Brown, who hit 17 of 21 and 22 of 23 field goals in his final two years at Oklahoma State in 2021 and 2022 and later spent time on the Rams’ and Falcons’ practice squads.

Of the 11 players who worked out for the Dolphins on Tuesday, the most prominent is NFL linebacker Marte Mapu, who has 89 tackles in 44 games and 10 starts in three NFL seasons for the Patriots. He was dealt to the Texans in a trade involving late-round draft picks in April, and Houston waived him injured on Aug. 24.

The Dolphins made two transactions over the past two days, signing linebacker Liam Anderson to their practice squad after he was released from the 53-man roster on Monday; and signing long snapper Luke Basso to their practice squad. Long snapper Cal Aldomitis, who had been on the Dolphins’ practice squad, was poached by the New Orleans on Tuesday.

Tucker Addington, the long snapper on the Dolphins’ 53-man roster, has been playing through a shoulder injury. he wore a red non-contact jersey at Wednesday’s practice.

More from Hafley

Hafley addressed other issues heading into Sunday’s home opener:

▪ Hafley said quarterback Malik Willis should have thrown the ball away at least once on Sunday. There were two plays in the red zone where Willis took sacks instead of throwing the ball out of the end zone.

“Once you are out of the pocket, you can throw the ball out of bounds,” Hafley said. “It’s a play he will learn from.”

Hafley praised how Willis has navigated playing with a lot of rookies: “He has a lot on his plate and has handled that really well.”

▪ Hafley said he won’t necessarily stick with defensive schemes that “worked for me elsewhere” if Miami continues to struggle generating a pass rush.

“I need to figure out something different to do, maybe different players in different spots,” he said. “Maybe changing the scheme to generate pressure. That’s my job to figure out. I have to make sure I’m not getting frustrated” but instead focus on solutions.

▪ Hafley said new Chiefs and former Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker, who leads the league in rushing, “adds such a dynamic element to their offense.. Now you add one of the premier backs in this league. Do you want to load the box and stop the runner?… He has a great stiff arm. He runs angry. He takes their offense to a different level. They have a very good offense, very explosive.”

Hafley said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has been sharp after returning from last December’s season-ending knee injury, “hasn’t missed a beat. He’s doing the stuff he’s always done.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2026 at 12:52 PM.