MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Hafley wants to see the mistakes.Of course the Miami Dolphins first-year head coach does not want his players missing assignments, lining up offsides or running the wrong routes on game days. But he has stressed to his young team the importance of pushing beyond their comfort zones during training camp, even if that means getting things wrong.“Some guys get so comfortable, right?” Hafley said Monday. “And they’re so scared to make a mistake that they play things safe. How do you grow if you’re going to play things safe? That doesn’t make any sense to me because you’re comfortable or you don’t want to look bad? It’s not about looking bad.”Hafley has taken that approach himself, testing out different snap counts for quarterbacks and living with pre-snap penalties if they come early on. Similarly, the former defensive coordinator wants players to test different techniques and learn what works for them. During a recent practice, that meant encouraging a cornerback to use his hands and length more during team drills.
“Like step out of your comfort zone. Don’t worry about the results,” Hafley said. “That’s what practice is for. That’s why I get mad in practice. I think bad coaching is when a guy gets beat and you just go up and you yell at him. No, ask him, ‘What did you do? What did you see? What did you try? Did it work? Let’s go back and watch it on film.’ If a guy’s not running to the ball or he’s (showing) lack of effort or physicality then yeah, yell at him. But this is where these guys get paralyzed in their minds, and I just don’t want that to happen.“So when I see a long corner and I get a flashback, ‘You’re not using your length. Step and punch and try something different.’ I think that’s huge for everybody on our team, and it’s just how we need to coach these guys.”
