Kelly: Cornerbacks need short memories, and confidence to face NFL elite

Omar Kelly admin October 2, 2026 0 Comments

Kelly: Cornerbacks need short memories, and confidence to face NFL elite | Opinion

The Miami Dolphins will spend this week on Justin Jefferson watch, scrutinizing every injury report and word said about the Minnesota Vikings’ All-Pro receiver’s playing status.

Jefferson, who has delivered six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for the Vikings, which selected him 22nd overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, injured his left ankle in Minnesota’s win against Tampa Bay last Sunday.

He’s receiving around-the-clock treatment for the ankle injury, but is viewed as a long shot to play Sunday against the Dolphins.

If Jefferson gains clearance, the Dolphins’ stable of young cornerbacks intend to be ready.

“You have to go up there and have confidence. That’s the biggest thing as a corner. No matter who it is lining up in front of you, if you go out there scared you’re going to lose,” said cornerback JuJu Brents, the most experienced cornerback in the unit. “You have to be the first one to throw the punch. Not an actual punch, but set the tone.”

Whether healthy or not, Jefferson’s presence on the field would change plenty about Miami’s defense because the 6-foot-1, 195-pound speedster is what Jeff Hafley labeled a “premier player.”

That’s the term the Dolphins’ first-year head coach used when talking about the NFL’s elites. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan calls them “premium” players because teams often have to pay premium prices for them.

Premiere or premium, they’re referring to the Brock Bowers, George Kittles, Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones of the league, the perennial Pro Bowl players Miam ha’s already faced, athletes who could eventually be in the conversation for Hall of Fame consideration.

On the flip side of that are the people who have to go up against those premium/premiere players.

This week it’s cornerbacks Chris Johnson, the Dolphins’ 2026 first-round pick, Jason Marshall Jr. and Brents, who comes on the field when Johnson moves inside to the nickel spot.

Cornerbacks need a short memory to succeed because the NFL’s $23 billion to $24 billion empire is built on passing games thriving in the NFL.

The league’s profitability is fueled by defenses failing, and plenty of time it’s the cornerbacks who have a target placed on their backs because fans attending games want to see players such as Jefferson score, and do the Griddy, his celebration dance.

Fantasy football players are obsessed with how many points the playmakers, premiere or premium players score, and it’s all at a defender’s expense.

The best cornerbacks I’ve covered in my two decades all had temporary amnesia when it came to plays they had been beaten on.

You could ask them about it, or past battles with a receiver, and they could barely remember what happened.

That’s the kind of mind-set Johnson, Marshall Jr. and Brents need to develop to excel in the NFL.

“This is a team sport, but when you’re out there at cornerback most of the time you’re by yourself. You can have a good game the whole game, but get beat one play, and it could ruin the game for your team,” Brents said. “You better have that short term memory because the next play they could be attacking you again. You don’t have time to have sorrow.

“Your big play is seen by everybody, so you better lock in.”

Johnson had a rough start to the 2026 season, getting picked on by Kirk Cousins in Miami’s 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, contributing to two touchdowns scored.

But he has responded favorably since.

“I felt like he looked like himself again [last week]. For whatever reason that was, he looked confident inside,” Hafley said, assessing Johnson’s game against the Chiefs. “He was physical inside. His man coverage was really good. He was around the football.”

Hafley closely monitors that unit because cornerback is the position he coached in college, and worked his way up the NFL ranks working with.

Marshall, a former University of Florida standout the Dolphins selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, has gotten off to a quiet start in his first season as a full-fledged starter, sparingly being targeted in the first three games.

Mahomes threw one pass his way last week, and it was incomplete.

That’s a positive, but it won’t last forever. Some quarterback will try him, and then what?

Hafley claims Brents, a 2023 second-round pick the Dolphins claimed off the waiver wire last season, played one of his best games last week against the Chiefs, helping contain Mahomes’ stable of receivers by turning up his physicality.

“I need him to build off that now,” Hafley said. “I need him to gain confidence.”

Gaining confidence, and keeping it is what leads to a cornerback’s survival. Especially against the fantasy football favorites of the NFL, players like Jefferson.