Under Pressure: Five Dolphins Players in the Spotlight in Week 3

The Miami Dolphins are going to be facing quite the task in trying to get their first victory of the season in their home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

For the second consecutive game, the Dolphins are overwhelming underdogs, which is to be expected given their current situation and the team they're facing.

As always, though, this game won't be so much about the final result for the Dolphins because, as much as they'd like to win every game, that's not the biggest objective for an organization which has decided to more or less sacrifice the 2026 season for a better 2027 and beyond.

But the Dolphins still will want to see good performances from those players who will line up against the Chiefs, and there are a handful of players who really need to perform Sunday whether to give the team any chance at pulling off a major upset or simply because their job security might be a bit shaky at this time.

THE FIVE PLAYERS UNDER PRESSURE IN WEEK 3

Tackle Austin Jackson — Head coach Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik were quick to defend Jackson this week after a couple of rough outings in the first two weeks, pointing out his health issues from training camp and the fact he faced elite pass rushers Maxx Crosby and Nick Bosa in those two games. There is merit to those arguments, but the fact remains that Jackson is a veteran starter with a contract situation that makes it at best 50-50 that he'll back next season — and that's probably a generous estimate — and the Dolphins might want to consider using a younger option (maybe Caedan Wallace) at right tackle if his problems persist. Jackson likely will be going against George Karlaftis in this game, and while Karlaftis is a former first-round pick with some ability, he's not Crosby or Bosa and Jackson needs to do better.

Kicker Riley Patterson — The Dolphins brought in a couple of kickers for tryouts this week and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor gave Patterson a heads up. Patterson remains the kicker for this game, but after he missed a field goal attempt in each of the first two games, his brilliant 27-for-29 performance of 2025 quickly won't be enough to keep him around if the struggles continue.

Edge Chop Robinson — Robinson will be back against Kansas City and told reporters Thursday he'll be wearing a Guardian cap after sustaining his fifth concussion dating back to college and his third in the last calendar year. The Dolphins pass rush was nonexistent in the first two games, with and without Robinson, but he still presents the best hope for being able to affect the quarterback, in this case Patrick Mahomes. All the talk about how good Robinson looked in the summer has disappeared by now, and he needs to produce in 2026 as he becomes extension-eligible with his fifth-year option decision due by next May.

QB Malik Willis — Willis' performance in the first two games was a bit uneven, which maybe should have been expected given his relative lack of starting experience and a supporting case lacking experience and high-end talent. But if the Dolphins have any chance of making this game competitive, Willis needs a big outing. And it also wouldn't hurt his cause in what we suspect is a season-long evaluation process for the Dolphins to determine how urgent the need to take a quarterback in the 2027 draft will be.

CB Chris Johnson — We could put any of the rookies here because all of them need to continue showing growth and showing they belong as part of the nucleus moving forward, but we'll go with Johnson after a tough first two games in terms of coverage — understanding the job demands for him probably exceed those of any other rookie on the roster. A good performance here also could help the Dolphins limit the damage the K.C. offense might be able to do.

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