MIAMI GARDENS — It was all lip service.

That’s the takeaway from Miami Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb’s blunt admission after being told that all this current talk about a culture change sounds familiar , possibly because we heard it last year. Were they lying?

“I’m going to say last year we were lying, honestly,” Chubb said. “Point blank. Period.”

That’s not to say players didn’t intend to change the culture last year . Or at least know that the culture needed to change. Just that it didn’t change.

“We felt it, you know what I mean?” Chubb said. “We put our toe in the water, but we didn’t dive all the way in. We didn’t go all the way there with each other. We weren’t making the extra effort to go the extra mile.”

Of course, that raises the question of whether anything is different in this spring of 2025.

“I would say this year we’re doing that,” Chubb said. “I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out for us, but we are putting forth that foot to change it. … If it works out, it works out. If not, we’re going to get back to the drawing board.”

Chubb had a bird’s-eye view of the Dolphins’ 8-9 season last year . He missed it because he was still rehabbing an ACL injury suffered on Dec. 31, 2023, against the Baltimore Ravens . Chubb said he is “totally out of rehab mode” now, which is what led to his wearing the orange jersey on Day 2 of minicamp as the practice player of the day from the first workout.

“It was dope, man,” Chubb said. “You know, just to see all the work come to light.”

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Instead of sacking quarterbacks, Chubb’s contribution included helping rookie Chop Robinson get his feet wet in the league. Now at age 28, Chubb couldn’t help but think how the roles have flipped. How Chubb was rookie breaking in with the Denver Broncos when Von Miller took him under his wing. Both veterans served as mentors in their seventh seasons, too.

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“I was just talking to Von,” Chubb said. “I just told him, ‘Bro, I feel like I got dropped into your shoes — completely, like Chop. He looked up to me as one of his favorite players coming out. I looked at Von as one of my favorite players.”

Come the fall, the time for talk will end, which is what Chubb, Robinson and Jaelan Phillips are targeting. They know the possibilities if all three can stay healthy. Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver can rotate the edge rushers to keep them fresh — but could put all three on the field at the same time.

"I feel myself smiling," McDaniel said of the possibility.

Chubb seems to like the sound of Weaver hinting it could be coming.

“We’ve got packages and stuff that he’s installed that he hasn’t quite said, ‘Right now, it’s an ‘X’ on the position, so he said, ‘OK, we could put anybody in this position and do this and do that,’ ” Chubb said.

Chubb figures in training camp, Weaver will shed light on the mysterious X.

“It’s gonna be fun,” Chubb said.

Will it stay that way? Will this culture change, however real, be permanent? Chubb said “it’s not necessarily” McDaniel changing.

“Not much of him has changed,” Chubb said. “I would say that the people around him and the buy-in of the game plan, team meetings and all that … I would say the mindset around him and around the team has changed.”