Here’s why the Dolphins’ bye week offers team a great chance to ‘reset’

Miami Dolphins admin October 20, 2026 0 Comments

Here’s why the Dolphins’ bye week offers team a great chance to ‘reset’

The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for Jordyn Brooks.

At 28, the Miami Dolphins linebacker’s body doesn’t recover as quickly as it used to. Add in the foot injury that briefly held him out during the 34-28 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and Brooks quite literally needed the time away.

“I was a little mad at the bye week being so early at the beginning of the season, but it honestly came right on time,” Brooks said. “And not just for me, a lot of other guys banged up a little bit. I think this week gave us a chance to kind of recover.”

As the Dolphins reconvene for 12 consecutive weeks of football, the time off needed to be used rather wisely. Rest, of course, remains the utmost importance during the bye but so does self-assessment. So in between taking time to recover and not totally disconnecting from a playbook, the Dolphins maintain that they’ve returned anew ready for the rest of the season.

“New energy,” Brooks said. “Just a chance to reset. Wasn’t a friendly first five weeks of the season. It was tough, kind of going through that. And we still got to live with it, but I think that break gives you a chance to kind of reflect and kind of take a deep breath, and I think that’s what this team needed.”

Everybody disconnected differently. Take defensive lineman Zach Sieler, for example. The 31-year-old spent a significant chunk of his free time in a tree.

No, that’s not a typo. That’s actually what he did.

“I sat in the woods in a tree,” Sieler said, “just kind of just peace and quiet, no service, and just reflect on what we’ve done in the past and how we want to move forward.”

The importance of this type of reset cannot be understated. As Brooks said, the first five weeks of the 2026 NFL season have not been kind to the Dolphins.

They have thrown the least amount of touchdowns. They average the second-fewest passing yards per game. And they have allowed opponents to convert 51.7% of their third downs, the second-worst mark in football.

That, however, doesn’t matter. To be even more direct, those figures won’t help Miami beat the New York Jets. From that standpoint, a bit of time away from the NFL can only help as the day-in, day-out grind of the season doesn’t weigh down

“The big thing is reset,” left tackle Patrick Paul said. “Take a deep breath. Reset. Take these few days to reflect. Everybody reflect and see what you could be better at, do better at. And when we get back from the bye week, it’s time. 12 weeks straight. Let’s get it.”

With the amount of youth that permeates this team, a total checkout, however, could be disastrous. That’s why Sieler also implored the rookies to not totally check out.

“Take that time, take that time away because it is a long season,” Sieler said. “A lot of those rookies, you got a college season ahead of you still. But to take a few days off, couple days off, like to get your mind right, but you can’t just sit and do nothing. Just keep your diet right, keep moving and watch tape on the weekend.”

The first test of the refreshed Dolphins comes 1 p.m. Sunday at the Meadowlands against a Jets team that currently sits at 2-4. This, for all intents and purposes, could be Miami’s best chance at a win all year. Hopefully, the reset proves worthwhile.