MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The Miami Dolphins are hopeful quarterback Malik Willis will return this season after his mandated minimum four-game stay on injured reserve, coach Jeff Hafley said Wednesday, and Willis is expected to remain the team's starter upon his return.
Hafley said Willis' MRI showed his groin injury had progressed to his core and the Dolphins' medical team believed he "needed the rest." Willis will seek a second opinion on his injury this week to decide whether or not to undergo surgery, but the Dolphins still see him as their starter, regardless of when he returns.
"Our hope is that he'll be back after his four weeks, which in time, if healthy, he'll return," Hafley said. "But he will be the starter when healthy, when he does return. And again, you look back at Malik and you watch him in that last game and you could see it. He couldn't quite move the way he had done early in the year and he was gritting through it and he was toughing through it. He made some plays with his feet in that game to keep plays alive.
"But we want him to be healthy so he can play at a high level without risking further injury."
Willis received treatment on his groin in each of the past two weeks. It didn't limit his practice participation, but he was noticeably hobbled in last week's loss to the Detroit Lions and was held to single-digit rushing yards for the second game in a row.
With Willis sidelined, second-year quarterback Kyle McCord will get his first career start Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Dolphins traded for McCord from the Green Bay Packers in August after the former sixth-round pick led the NFL in passing touchdowns this preseason. Though McCord has primarily run the Dolphins' scout team at practice since his arrival, Hafley said McCord's preseason tape showed desirable traits.
"He's got a strong arm, stronger than you think. He sees it well. The ball comes out fast," Hafley said. "He's decisive. He's aggressive. ... Again, he does not have experience in this league and this league is very different, but he does have experience. He has played in a lot of games, but from when I watched him, he's thrown a lot of passes and he does have arm talent and the ball comes out quickly and it'll be interesting to see."
The Philadelphia Eagles took McCord in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft, after he threw for an FBS-leading 4,779 yards at Syracuse as a senior. He also spent three seasons at Ohio State, going 11-1 as a starter in 2023.
McCord said it is his big-game experience in college that gives him confidence heading into the biggest week of his NFL career to date.
"It's a blessing, but I think once you get the first play, put on the helmet and get going, I think it'll feel just like football," McCord said of his opportunity. "And I feel like ... that's something that having played those big college games, I think you've been in those moments before my first time playing in a big game. I feel like that's where I'm drawing a lot of confidence from."
McCord said that despite his brief time in Miami, he has a full grasp of the playbook and can run "anything [offensive coordinator] Bobby [Slowik] wants to call." According to teammates, he has already shown that grasp at practice this week.
Right tackle Austin Jackson said McCord wasn't afraid to correct his teammates at Wednesday's practice, specifically when they weren't lined up appropriately.
"I would say he seemed pretty confident today in the huddle, calling the huddle, pretty confident calling the plays out," Jackson said. "There's a couple times the formation was wrong and he actually spotted it out beforehand, which is good. That's something that is big for a quarterback ... the confidence there is the main thing really, at the end of the day, that gets [a quarterback] through it."
Left tackle Patrick Paul said McCord has a "moxie" to him that he's excited for people to see Sunday and said he wasn't surprised by his practice habits "because he's a smart player."
Paul also said Miami's offensive line has a responsibility to ensure McCord remains comfortable during his first start.
"As the O-line, you have to make him feel comfortable," Paul said. "So that's setting a firm pocket and then just off the field, getting with him, talking with him, making sure he's confident, and then just praising him when you can -- just letting him know that you're there and supporting him."