Dolphins host Lions with Hafley's team aiming for grit that Campbell has built in Detroit

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When Dan Campbell was hired as the Lions' head coach in 2021, he famously declared that Detroit would be a team that would “bite a kneecap off" its opponents.

Dolphins first-year coach Jeff Hafley has a similar mindset and wants his young Dolphins team to be built on the same toughness and grit that Campbell has instituted in Detroit.

“I probably never would talk about biting people, but I think it’s pretty cool that he did,” Hafley quipped on Wednesday. “I think it’s the same. I mean, that’s how I want to play football ... that’s how we are playing football.”

Detroit was 3-13-1 in Campbell’s first full season as an NFL coach, six years after he was 5-7 as Miami’s interim coach. The teams will meet Sunday afternoon in Miami Gardens.

“Just reminds me a little of what we were when we came in," Campbell said of the rebuilding Dolphins, who are 1-6 with the youngest roster in the NFL — eight Dolphins rookies have combined for 45 total starts — but have been praised by opponents for how tough they play.

“They’re young, they’re hungry, they’re active,” Campbell added.

Dolphins players have said they want their identity to be rooted in physicality and effort — but they want to be known for much more.

“We want to win,” rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez said. “I think that's kind of a given — we're trying to win. We're not just trying to go out there and play hard and hope for the best. We're trying to go out there and have a plan to actively go and win the game. That being said, I think how we can do that, part of the recipe to win is you've got to play hard. And that's something that we've bought into.”

The Lions (5-2) have a balancing act at Miami, focusing on winning a fourth straight game to keep up in the competitive NFC North while a scary injury to All-Pro linebacker Jack Campbell looms over the franchise.

Campbell, who suffered a neck injury early in the fourth quarter of a 19-15 win over the Vikings, released a statement Wednesday saying he has full movement in his lower body and is “continuing to make progress with movement in my upper body." Those were his first comments since he was carted off the field last Sunday.

“There’s no easy way to do this,” Dan Campbell said Wednesday. “You also have to acknowledge it and let’s talk about it and make sure we know, but I also know they’re not postponing this game. The only way to honor Jack, we know the only way to really honor Jack and what he really wants is to make sure that we’re locked in and ready to go.”