Dolphins' struggling defense hoping for improved physicality in Monday night matchup with Jets

Weaver, his signature smile fading and his tone sharpening during a roughly three-minute plea for improvement, said he knows his group can play better. But it starts with changing its attitude.

“I’m old school,” Weaver said. "I’m a nice guy. I smile, I do all those things, but all of our problems that we need to solve can be solved through violence. Yeah, they want to legislate it out of the game, but we play defensive football. Defensive football at some point you draw a line in the sand and you say, ‘I’m going to set the edge. I’m going to stick my helmet under this guy’s chin and I’m going to set the edge. I’m going to violently take the ball away.’

"And that’s what we need to do. With a steely-eyed focus, with resolve, with resiliency, and we’re going to stop people. And I am determined, we are all determined for that to happen.”

They have a chance for a turnaround Monday night against the New York Jets — a prime time matchup between two winless AFC East rivals. The Dolphins have won nine straight home games against the Jets and are 34-25-1 at home against New York.

Miami's defense is hoping to build on its second-half performance in its Week 3 loss at Buffalo. The Dolphins forced two Bills punts in the second half — nearly a third before veteran defensive tackle Zach Sieler was penalized for roughing the punter — to keep the team in the game after struggling to get off the field before that.

Weaver said the defense's lack of physicality hurt early in the game, adding that Buffalo “punched us in the face early” by being able to easily run outside zone.

“They’re gaining five or six yards, and we’re misfitting in all these things,” Weaver said. “That’s not a them thing, that’s an us thing. That’s something that we can control, but at some point, we’ve got to do it.”

Weaver fervidly challenged his defense to play better in meetings, and coach Mike McDaniel said that passion was evident all week.

“I think it’s a good representation of one of the reasons why Anthony Weaver is here,” McDaniel said. "I was very aware of his tonality throughout the week. ... We’re working together through that. It fires me up that (he) was hot.”

Players appeared to get the message. And they echoed Weaver's notion that they need to play with more physicality.

“We’ve got to be in a position where we can play fast, because I think when you are playing slow, you’re not able to be violent,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. "You’re more reactionary than being aggressive. When we’re in a position to play downhill and put our shoulder pads on people, knock the ball off of people, I think that’s when you get that violence that he’s talking about. So just knowing what to do, communicating and playing with a sense of urgency.”

That communication will be important against Jets quarterback Justin Fields, who was cleared from concussion protocol this week and will start after being sidelined against Tampa Bay in Week 3.

The Dolphins struggle at times against mobile quarterbacks. In the past two weeks, Bills quarterback Josh Allen had four carries for 25 yards and Patriots QB Drake Maye had 10 rushes for 31 yards and a rushing TD.

Fields' playmaking ability presents a similar challenge.

“He’s a guy that can hurt you with his legs and with his arm," Fitzpatrick said. "So you’ve got to have a great rush plan. I think when you play guys like him, very similar to Josh Allen earlier this year, he’s a guy that if he doesn’t like what he sees in the backend, he’s going to think to tuck and run first. I think having a great rush plan, making sure you have multiple guys having eyes on him is crucial.”

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