Dolphins

There was a moment over the offseason in the Dolphins’ joint practice with the Bears where LB Jordyn Brooks confronted fellow LB Tyrel Dodson for not playing physically enough. Miami OLB Bradley Chubb called it a “turning point” for their defense and changing the culture in the locker room.

“Honestly in Chicago, with [Brooks and Dodson] — [it was] players holding players accountable,” Chubb said, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “We were in the heat of battle, so it got a little bit more heated than it should have. … Just guys getting in each other’s face, but at the end of the day, knowing it’s all love and this is about pushing each other to be the best. It was probably the biggest turning point for our defense this offseason because we saw two alphas going at it and pushing each other to be better.”

One anonymous former Dolphins player told Louis-Jacques that people were often late to practice and meetings early in the 2024 season, following a strong 2023 campaign when they went 11-6.

“Everyone was fine with cutting meetings, cutting practice when they’re winning, but once you’re losing, it’s like now you can’t get mad at that,” the player said. “You were just enjoying it when you were winning.”

Miami let players go over the offseason, like S Jevon Holland, RB Raheem Mostert, CB Kendall Fuller, and TE Durham Smythe. Miami GM Chris Grier said they made calculated decisions to add “the right guys” to their locker room.

“When you bring in so many new players that have been stars that played other places and you kind of work through it, you have your expectations, but you’re winning,” Grier said. “But you look at it and you’re like, ‘Hey, I don’t know if we’re winning the right way.’ You know what I mean? That’s kind of what it was. We had a lot of good guys in that locker room, as you know, some of the guys that are leaders were here before as well. They were held accountable, but at times guys, it didn’t matter to them. Moving on from those people with the right guys here and focusing on that, because when you have a year like we did last year, we had gone to the playoffs the two previous years, and at some point you say, ‘OK. All right, enough is enough.'”

• Louis-Jacques also reports Jalen Ramsey‘s behavior became a “drain on team morale” and the decision to trade him to the Steelers was “team-driven.”
• Dolphins fifth-round CB Jason Marshall Jr. has a “week-to-week” injury that’s not super extensive but could keep him out in Week 4, per McDaniel. (Barry Jackson)
• Dolphins TE Darren Waller will practice on Monday and would be on a snap count, per HC Mike McDaniel. (Joe Schad)
• Dolphins WR Malik Washington was fined $5,611 for using the helmet.

Jets

Jets HC Aaron Glenn doesn’t believe in moral victories in the NFL, but...