The Miami Dolphins are asking their veterans to live in the middle of a reset, and Zach Sieler is one of the faces of that reality. The roster has been stripped down, the salary cap has been reshaped, and the team is leaning hard into a youth movement while the front office and coaching staff try to build something that can last.
That leaves the experienced players with a job that is a lot less glamorous than chasing wins right now. They have to steady a young locker room, keep the standards in place, and wait while the group grows up around them. Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post took a look at that strain, with Sieler front and center.
“How much patience do you have to have to go through this?” a reporter asked.
“I have two kids, man. I’m doing all right,” Sieler said with a smile.
It was a rare smile from Sieler in that locker room in northern California. Losing pains Sieler.
He is an accomplished veteran. He is a solid player who has been a very good player in this league.
And he’s surrounded by toddlers.
No, not his children. His teammates…
But coach Jeff Hafley needs Sieler, and his five fellow captains, to hang in there mentally.
That patience theme runs through the rest of the Dolphins chatter as well, especially when it comes to where this team is headed. If the rebuild is unfolding the way it should, one piece of the long-term picture could be a first-round edge rusher in the 2027 NFL draft, according to Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Perkins argued that Dolphins fans should be rooting for that kind of pick no matter where Miami lands in the draft order.
On the field, there are still signs of progress mixed with the same old issues. C.
Isaiah Smalls of the Miami Herald pointed out that the Dolphins’ offense showed something in the first half of the Week 2 loss to the 49ers. It may not have changed the final result, but for two quarters, the game looked competitive.
The bigger offensive concern remains the right side, where Austin Jackson has become a talking point. Smalls wrote that Jackson is part of a developing problem there, and the blunt assessment attached to it says plenty: “Got to perform better.”
There are also injury updates worth tracking as the Dolphins get ready for Kansas City. David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that Chop Robinson returned to practice Wednesday as he moves through concussion protocol.
Furones also noted that Caleb Douglas was sidelined. The Dolphins’ edge defender is getting closer to clearing the protocol ahead of Sunday’s home opener.
Elsewhere in the coverage roundup, Alain Poupart of Miami Dolphins on SI looked at ten key numbers through Week 2 that help explain where the season stands after the Week 1 loss in Las Vegas. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald offered a six-pack of notes, including an unusual quality about Michael Taaffe, the Proctor meeting, and linebackers being self-critical.
There’s no shortage of pressure points here. The roster is young, the veterans are being asked to hold the line, and the injuries and offensive issues are still right there in the open. The Dolphins are trying to grow into something bigger, but right now the work is still very much in progress.
In Other News...
Tua Tagovailoa's Chance To Prove Dolphins Wrong Is Fading Fast
Tua Tagovailoas time with the Falcons has taken an odd turn, and it has left his next chance to get on the field looking less secure than it once did. Atlanta has already named Michael Penix Jr. its starter for Week 3, with Tagovailoa now working as the backup while he recovers from an oblique injury, a shift that came after he had been expected to take the job and start throwing passes for the team.
For Miami fans still tracking the quarterbacks path, the bigger issue is not just the injury, but the reality that the Falcons could keep rolling with Penix if he plays well. Tagovailoa has yet to throw a pass for Atlanta, and every week that passes without him in the lineup makes this situation feel less like a temporary detour and more like a decision the Falcons may not be eager to revisit. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Suddenly Have A Receiver Problem Before Chiefs Game
The Dolphins made a small roster tweak this week, but it speaks to a bigger concern heading into their Week 3 meeting with the Chiefs. Miami released long snapper Luke Basso and added wide receiver A.J. Henning to the practice squad, a move designed to shore up a position group that is suddenly looking thinner than expected.
With injury concerns surrounding Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell, the Dolphins are trying to protect themselves with more receiver depth before Sunday. Miami now has three receivers on the practice squad and only a limited number of healthy wideouts on the active roster, which leaves the team monitoring a situation that could shape how it approaches the game plan against Kansas City. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Fans Will Never Agree On Their Most Defining Home Opener
The Dolphins have spent decades making home openers feel like a small event in themselves, the kind of early-season game that can set the tone in South Florida before the larger autumn questions start to settle in. Miamis record in those games has long been a point of pride, and the franchise has plenty of examples to draw from, whether it was a comeback win, a runaway performance or a memorable afternoon involving names like Dan Marino, Ricky Williams and Ryan Tannehill.
What makes the debate interesting is that no single opener seems to define the whole experience for Dolphins fans. Some are remembered for the drama, some for the dominance, and some for circumstances far beyond the scoreboard, including a game delayed by 9/11 and another that became the longest in NFL history. With so many different kinds of opening days folded into the franchises history, the argument is less about which one was best and more about which one still feels most like Miami. [Read more 🡒]