Raiders' Klint Kubiak and Dolphins' Jeff Hafley make NFL head coaching debuts in season opener

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Since becoming the Las Vegas Raiders ' coach in February, Klint Kubiak has never made it about himself. And he wasn't about to change on the verge of his debut as the leader of an NFL team.

“It’s our first game as a staff, our first game as a team,” Kubiak said. “That’s what I’m excited about.”

The season opener Sunday between Miami and Las Vegas will be a matchup of first-time NFL head coaches with Jeff Hafley on the Dolphins ' sideline.

“I’ll be anxious for it, but I’ll have put in the work,” Hafley said. "So I’ll make my calls fast and I’ll be decisive. You can’t have any regrets on game day. You just got to go out there and coach free and do everything that you can and respond. I’ll be more excited than anything else to coach this team.”

There's a reason both teams have new coaches, though for the Raiders this is a more familiar feeling. They open their fourth season in a row with someone different leading them.

They hope Kubiak is finally the answer, but it's unlikely there will be a quick turnaround in either Southern Nevada or South Florida. The Raiders won a combined seven games the past two years and have gone without a playoff victory since the 2002 season when they made the Super Bowl. Miami comes off back-to-back losing years and doesn't have a postseason win since the 2000 season.

Hafley was Green Bay's defensive coordinator the past two seasons and the Packers' defense finished in the top 10 in a number of categories in 2025. Hafley also went 22-26 from 2020-23 as Boston College's head coach.

This is Kubiak's first head coaching job at any level, and he hopes to transfer his success as the offensive coordinator for Seattle's Super Bowl-championship team.

He has been all business since arriving in Las Vegas.

“It's all about football at the end of the day,” Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby said. "We're not here to just have fun. Of course, it's playing a sport, but we're here to win. I think Klint does a great job of balancing that. He has a very serious element to him. He'll tell you himself. He's not the biggest personality in the world, but he knows that.

“I think his ability to hold people accountable is extremely important. I think it's something that we haven't had in a long time.”

Miami (7-10) at Las Vegas (3-14)

When/where to watch: Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox.

Latest odds: Raiders by 3 1/2.

Against the spread: Dolphins 8-9; Raiders 7-10.

Last meeting: Dolphins beat Raiders 34-19 on Nov. 17, 2024, in Miami.

Series record: Dolphins lead 20-18-1.

Dolphins RT Austin Jackson vs. Crosby. Crosby's 462 quarterback pressures since 2019 are third highest during that stretch, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Jackson's ability to keep Crosby out of the backfield will be vital for the Dolphins working under new QB Malik Willis.

— The Dolphins have won four of the past five meetings and nine of 11.

— The Dolphins have 13 rookies on their active roster — most in the NFL — and five are expected to start on Sunday. Miami's average age is 25.5, which is the youngest in the NFL. Ten of Miami's projected starters are first- or second-year players.

— A victory would make Hafley the fifth coach in Dolphins history to win his debut.

— Hafley will call Miami's defensive plays. He led the Packers to a top-five total defense in 2024.

— The Raiders are the second team since 1950 to enter a season with a different head coach and starting quarterback in four consecutive years. Houston was the other, from 2020 through 2023. Las Vegas' run includes coach Josh McDaniels and QB Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023, Antonio Pierce and Gardner Minshew in 2024, Pete Carroll and Geno Smith in 2025 and Kubiak and Kirk Cousins this season.

— Cousins is two touchdown passes from 300. That would tie Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway for 14th.

— Crosby, since entering the NFL in 2019, is first among defensive linemen in tackles for loss with 133 and fourth in sacks with 69 1/2. Only two Raiders have 70 sacks.

— The Raiders hope to turn around an offense that was last in 2025 in yardage (245.2 yards per game) and scoring (14.2 points). Las Vegas also was last in rushing offense with a 77.5-yard average.

AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames in Miami Gardens, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Miami Dolphins quarterbacks Malik Willis (2) and Kyle McCord (14) do drills during practice at the team's NFL football training complex, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs pleaded no contest Thursday to misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property stemming from a May altercation with his girlfriend during which she said he threw her to the ground.

Jacobs must pay a $1,000 fine plus court costs for the battery charge. Under an agreement with prosecutors, the criminal damage charge can be dismissed in a year if he fulfills terms that include staying out of trouble, avoiding the victim in this case, submitting to supervision, completing counseling and paying restitution to the victim.

“I fully understand the seriousness of the situation, and I take full responsibility,” Jacobs said during an appearance in a Brown County court.

Jacobs was arrested May 26, three days after Hobart-Lawrence police officers came to his Wisconsin home to investigate a disturbance. According to police, the woman told them that Jacobs grabbed her and threw her to the ground as she was trying to exit a garage door, causing her to hit her head. Police said Jacobs also took her phone from her while she was on the ground.

Police said they noticed redness on her face and neck and could feel a bump on the back of her head.

According to a criminal complaint, the woman’s statement was corroborated by surveillance footage from the camera system in the garage where the incident occurred.

Jacobs was charged in late August and the NFL subsequently placed him on the commissioner’s exempt list, which prevents the three-time Pro Bowl running back from playing or practicing but allows him to keep receiving a paycheck. Players on the commissioner’s exempt list may be allowed at team facilities for meetings, individual workouts, therapy and rehabilitation and other non-football activities.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Thursday that the league is monitoring the case, which is being reviewed under the league personal conduct policy, and Jacobs remains on the exempt list. The Packers had no immediate comment.

Jacobs could face a league suspension.

David Chesnoff, one of the lawyers representing Jacobs, said the running back already has begun counseling.

“This plea reflects Josh’s acknowledgement of his actions and his acceptance of responsibility for these actions," Chesnoff said. “There are significant consequences for Josh, and he intends to meet all the requirements the court imposes under these negotiations.”

According to the criminal complaint, Jacobs’ girlfriend told police she had been looking through Jacobs’ phone and saw he was talking to other women, and that she threw his phone in anger without breaking it. She told police that Jacobs had her phone and she told him he could look through it.

Police said the woman indicated she tried to retrieve her phone from Jacobs, but he grabbed her arm. They left the home in separate vehicles but eventually returned, and the woman later grabbed a second phone from a duffle bag. That led to the events in which she was trying to exit a garage door.

Jacobs entered his plea three days before the Packers open the season at Minnesota.

He is coming off a 2025 season during which he rushed for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns. That followed a 2024 season in which he ran for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns while earning his third Pro Bowl selection.

Green Bay has no other running backs who rushed for more than 106 yards last season.

The only other running backs currently on Green Bay’s 53-man roster are MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks and Kaleb Johnson. The Packers acquired Johnson from Pittsburgh the day that Jacobs was placed on the commissioner's exempt list.

Lloyd is a 2024 third-round pick who has played just one game over the last two seasons due to a variety of injuries, but he is healthy now. Lloyd said Jacobs has offered him advice about this upcoming game by telling him to "just stay where your feet are” and to “just be yourself.”

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FILE - Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs stands on the field before a NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Aug. 28, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)