The Five Dolphins Players in the Spotlight in Week 7

The Miami Dolphins are returning from their bye to face the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Caleb Douglas (7) runs with the ball in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The MIami Dolphins will be back in action against the New York Jets on Sunday, and the mission will remain the same.

The Dolphins still are looking for their first victory of the season, but more importantly want to see progress and improvement, particularly after the disappointing showing in the last outing against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The matchup against the Jets, who also are in rebuilding mode though further ahead than the Dolphins, represents a good opportunity for Miami to get its first win of the season and end all talk of a winless season.

Most importantly, the Dolphins need for their young players to get better and organically that will give them a better chance to win as the season progresses.

With that in mind, here are the five players we'll be watching closely against the Jets:

THE FIVE DOLPHINS PLAYERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT IN WEEK 5

QB Malik Willis — There might come a time when this no longer applies because it will have become apparent that the Dolphins need to look elsewhere to find a quarterback for the long run, but we're not there yet — even though a lot of fans already have given up on him. It's very obvious that Willis hasn't played well enough so far in 2026, but every game is a new opportunity and at some point the entire offense (hopefully) will start jelling a bit more.

WR Caleb Douglas — It's not often that the return of a rookie third-round pick is as anticipated as Douglas being back against the Jets, but this is where we are with the Dolphins. The clear lack of playmakers on offense was exacerbated by the loss of De'Von Achane to his season-ending knee injury and Douglas' performance in the Week 1 game against Las Vegas provided cause for excitement. Having said that, it's also probably not fair to expect big numbers from Douglas right away after he missed three games with an ankle injury, but there should be some kind of impact.

RB Ollie Gordon II — Gordon has averaged 94 yards in his two games since taking over as the starter, and now he'll be facing a run defense that's had some tough outings. Gordon could become the most important player on offense before this season is over.

LB Jacob Rodriguez — The second-round pick is off to a great start in his rookie season as a tackle machine, but he'll be challenged again in the pass game because the Jets have an uber athletic rookie first-round pick at tight end with Kenyon Sadiq, whose backup is another good young pass-catching tight end, Mason Taylor (son of Dolphins legend Jason Taylor). It won't be all on Rodriguez to limit the damage from the tight ends, but he'll be involved and will need to clamp down.

EDGE Chop Robinson — Jets quarterback Geno Smith has been very good this year at avoiding turnovers, but he'll also been criticized for taking too many sacks. This is where Robinson has to come in. Some of his analytics in the pass-rushing department are very good, but they haven't translated into enough impact plays. This is where he's got to make it happen.