Bradley Chubb admits to ‘lying’ about Dolphins’ culture change

When the Miami Dolphins decided to part ways with Vic Fangio after the 203 NFL season, it was supposed to “fix” the team’s cultural issues.

The Dolphins players didn’t like Fangio’s old-school ways, made that known down the stretch, and when he was finally relieved of his duties – allowed to instead lead the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl – the hiring of Anthony Weaver was supposed to finally get things back on track.

And yet, even one of the team’s defensive leaders, Bradley Chubb, admitted to reporters at camp that a cultural change simply didn’t happen, as the Dolphins put a to – read: fin – into the water instead of going all-in on the change.

“I’m going to say last year, we were lying, honestly,” Chubb told reporters via NFL.com. “Point blank, period. We felt it. We put our toe in the water, but we didn’t dive all the way in. We didn’t get all the way there with each other. We weren’t making the effort to go the extra mile, and I would say this year, we’re doing that.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out for us, but we are putting forth that foot to change it because last year, like I said, we said we wanted to change, yeah, we’re doing this, we’re doing that; but it’s not going exactly how we want to. But this year, I feel like everybody has the right mindset and moving forward, so if it works out, it’s going to work out. If it doesn’t, we’re going to get back to the drawing board and make sure it works out.”

While the Dolphins still finished second in the AFC East in 2024, they took major steps back from 2023, with their total number of wins, point differential, and offensive rating all taking major steps backward. Still, their defense did improve under Weaver, so who knows? Maybe a renewed commitment to playing defense the right way could correspond with a return to the playoffs if the Dolphins’ offense can get back on track.