MIAMI - The Miami Dolphins head into their Week 4 road game in Minneapolis without Pro Bowl running back De’Von Achane, who was lost to injury during last week’s matchup against Kansas City, as they face a Minnesota Vikings team that is 3-0 and winning with the second-ranked scoring defense in the NFL.

The Vikings present a distinctive challenge: despite ranking 32nd in total offense, Minnesota has remained unbeaten by controlling games defensively and running the football. Head Coach Jeff Hafley said the noise at U.S. Bank Stadium will make execution the central test for his young offense.

“It’s going to be everybody. It’s going to be the receivers responding the right way, the tight ends responding the right way, Malik’s ability to communicate, where’s our back, is he where he’s supposed to be, is he seeing everything the right way. I mean, it’s going to take all 11… We’re going to have to be on the same page. It’s going to be loud, so communication is going to be a key to this game,” Hafley said.

Achane’s absence shifts the backfield load to second-year backs Ollie Gordon II and Jaylen Wright. Wright said the team feels the loss personally but is committed to filling the void.

“It’s hard to see anybody go down like that. I mean, it’s the nature of the game. De’Von’s going to be missed. He’s going to be missed, man. I love De’Von. I wish him the best, quick, fast recovery. Hell of a player, hell of an athlete, but at the end of the day, the RBs, we’re going to hold it down for him. I know he’s going to be happy for that. We’re going to try our best just to make him happy, just to continue to build on what he’s been doing,” Wright said.

Gordon II framed the situation as a moment both backs have been preparing for throughout the offseason and training camp. “It’s a great opportunity just because we go through practice, we practice everything, we rep everything, even when De’Von was with us. Me and 5 (Jaylen Wright) still got reps that De’Von would have had. So, it’s just like practicing without him, which is horrible, like I said, he’s a great guy. It’s just time for me and 5 to step up, become leaders on this team and keep moving forward,” Gordon II said.

Quarterback Malik Willis, who will be tasked with reading Minnesota’s defense, said the Vikings disguise their schemes effectively. “They do a great job switching it up, giving you stuff that looks like something that you’ve seen and then doing something else out of it… And I think we just got to listen to our coaches and prepare this week with the scheme they have for us and do what we can,” Willis said. He added confidence in the young backs: “I think they’ve been making plays all offseason and just continuing to get better each day. And I think that we have the coaches that will do what we need to do to put them in the best position to be successful.”

The Dolphins are carrying momentum from what the team described as their most complete showing of the 2026 season against Kansas City, when Miami trailed 14-7 with the ball in the fourth quarter before falling short. Wide receiver Malik Washington said the growth is real but incomplete. “I think we’ve made a ton of progress, and I say that, but I recognize that there’s still a long way to go. We got to clean up our penalties. We got to play a little bit cleaner football. We got to be on our assignments, and I think we still can earn some growth in that area, and we’ll continue to work on that throughout the weeks,” Washington said.

Hafley, reflecting on the Kansas City loss, said the fight his players showed was a sign of where the franchise is headed. “Against, I think, one of the best teams in the NFL, it’s 14-7, we have the ball and watching those young guys make those plays and just continue to fight back - it doesn’t feel good right now because I want to win in everything that we do. But I think if we look at the bigger picture, I think it just kind of shows where we’re heading with some of these guys,” Hafley said.

The Dolphins’ Week 4 game against the Vikings in Minneapolis is the team’s third road game in the first four weeks of the 2026 season.