{
  "id": 54258,
  "title": "Does new approach equal new Jonah Savaiinaea for Miami Dolphins?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/02/does-new-approach-equal-new-jonah-savaiinaea-for-miami-dolphins",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-02T19:32:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/does-approach-equal-jonah-savaiinaea-193206866.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new chapter is beginning for Miami Dolphins guard Jonah Savaiinaea. After a successful career in high school and college, the former first-round draft pick has faced criticism as a rookie and has struggled to establish himself. Now, Savaiinaea has made significant changes to his approach and outlook heading into the new season.\n\nFirst and foremost, Savaiinaea has switched sides on the field, moving from left guard to right guard. He has also changed his jersey number from 72 to 71. While the number may seem like a minor detail, Savaiinaea believes it represents a fresh start and a return to his old high school and college number.\n\nIn addition to the physical changes, Savaiinaea has made a mental shift as well. He has distanced himself from the criticisms of last season and is focused on moving forward. First-year coach Jeff Hafley has taken notice of this newfound confidence. \"I think his confidence is in an all-time high,\" Hafley said. \"I think he's learned from going through a really hard year.\"\n\nSavaiinaea acknowledges the challenges he has faced in his transition from college to the NFL. However, he is determined to overcome them. \"I want to get back to that kind of a reset mode and starting to be myself again,\" he said. \"It's all about how you attack everything mentally.\"\n\nWith Savaiinaea positioned as a key player on the offensive line, Miami's defensive strategy could see significant improvement. Head coach Hafley is optimistic about Savaiinaea's potential and is urging him to continue pushing forward. \"All I want him to do is he to believe in himself and continue to progress and tune out everything that happened last year,\" Hafley said.",
  "summary": "The Miami Dolphins and guard Jonah Savaiinaea are trying to forget his rough rookie season of 2025 and start with a fresh outlook on 2026.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Miami Dolphins showed encouraging signs after Week 1 of training camp",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/02/miami-dolphins-showed-encouraging-signs-after-week-1-of-training-camp",
        "published": "2026-08-02T12:52:06.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}