The Miami Dolphins are using an eight-day West Coast stay to correct their Week 1 mistakes, build team chemistry and prepare for their second game of the 2026 season against the San Francisco 49ers.
Miami is scheduled to play San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 4:25 p.m. ET. The Dolphins departed Saturday before their game in Las Vegas and are scheduled to remain on the road for eight days before returning home for their Week 3 opener against Kansas City.
West Coast stay supports team building
The Dolphins spent the week self-scouting, making corrections and continuing to build chemistry. Head coach Jeff Hafley said the extended time together has given the young team more opportunities to connect away from meetings and practice.
“Our operations staff has done a great job, it is outstanding. There’s a big courtyard with a pool, there’s games set up, there’s fire pits. All the meeting spaces are tight. So guys are spending extra time with their coaches and then they’re sitting out by the fire talking, they’re playing ping pong. It’s like being on a college campus and everybody’s kind of going back to their dorms at the end of the night – certainly they’re a lot nicer than dorm rooms. Guys are sitting and playing cards at 8 o’clock when I’m walking out, sitting in the meal room for longer and just spending more time together. I think for a young team this week is very important. I think it’s a big connection piece, getting to know their teammates, getting to know some of the new guys that we brought in. But I’m really happy with the decision,” Hafley said.
Miami is opening the season with two consecutive road games on the West Coast. The team is scheduled to return home before its Week 3 home opener against Kansas City.
Miami emphasizes penalties, sacks and turnovers
The Dolphins identified penalties, sacks and turnovers as key areas for improvement before facing the San Francisco 49ers. The players quoted by the team focused on situational awareness, ball security and avoiding mistakes that can influence close games.
Quarterback Malik Willis said the team must recognize how critical errors affect different situations. “Situational awareness as far as just making critical mistakes and whatever situation we’re in, whether it was me taking a sack or somebody else and me in there or whatever, it doesn’t matter, we’re all one team. But at the same time, we got to understand that’s how people get beat, and I think taking care of the ball, obviously,” Willis said.
Defensive lineman Zach Sieler stressed execution in areas that do not require exceptional talent. “It’s exactly doing those little things right that take no talent. We got to be right in all those aspects. We got to make sure that we are locked in and focused, and we don’t beat ourselves with stupid penalties or decisions or mistakes out there. So, we got to be able to kind of hone in on that and obviously got to be better there to move forward to next week and get a W,” Sieler said.
Center Aaron Brewer also called for Miami to eliminate negative plays. “Just eliminate the bad. You can’t win when you have that many penalties and sacks and turnovers at that point in time. Those are the things we need to be better on. That’s literally kind of the message that we’re going into. It was a close game; it was a winnable game. Even with all the mistakes we had, it was still a winnable game,” Brewer said.
Rookies have significant early responsibility
Miami rookies played 27.2 percent of the Dolphins’ total offensive and defensive snaps in Week 1. That figure led the National Football League by more than 10 percentage points over Cleveland’s 16.7 percent.
When second-year players were included, players with one year of experience or fewer accounted for 610 snaps. Safety Dante Trader and rookie safety Michael Taaffe each recorded an interception in Week 1, giving Miami additional evidence of the young group’s potential.
“That we have the potential. Just speaking for myself, I haven’t done anything in this league. So being able to make plays and get some more popping plays on tape and just allow the coaches to get more confidence that we can do more things in the back end and they can trust us more in that sense,” Trader said.
Miami prepares for San Francisco
The game against the San Francisco 49ers will be Miami’s second consecutive road contest. The Dolphins will look to apply their Week 1 corrections while continuing to develop a team that has relied heavily on inexperienced players.
Hafley said the Dolphins must focus on the immediate preparation rather than looking too far ahead. “I got to stay in the moment. Easier said than done, right? Today’s about today. Today’s about our preparation. I know that’s a whole bunch of coach talk, but at the same time, just even meeting with the players last night, being around them today, I love the guys that we have and I love their attitude and I love their ownership and I love how much they want to grow and get better. We’ve got the right people in the building right now and that really excites me, but we have to get better today,” Hafley said.
The Dolphins are scheduled to face the San Francisco 49ers Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET in San Francisco. Miami’s next scheduled home game is its Week 3 opener against Kansas City.
FSB Take
The San Francisco game gives the Miami Dolphins an immediate opportunity to show whether their Week 1 corrections are taking hold. Miami’s rookies already have played a league-leading share of the team’s snaps, while penalties, sacks and turnovers remain the central issues identified by the players. The Dolphins’ execution in those areas will shape their second road game before the Week 3 home opener against Kansas City.
Source: Original report