The Miami Dolphins are in the midst of a major change, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa benched this week and designated as the team’s third-string passer while rookie Quinn Ewers moves into the starting lineup. The team also released linebacker Matthew Judon, making way for younger pass rushers to see more playing time as the team finishes its last three weeks of the season. With the Dolphins eliminated from the playoffs, the season is more about finding out what they have for 2026 than about their 2025 standings.
The team has not given up on getting players back from injured reserve, however, as they designated kicker Jason Sanders for return and had him practice for the first time this season on Thursday. Sanders sustained a hip injury in training camp and has not been able to play since. Riley Patterson has handled the team’s kicking duties all season.
Sanders was a seventh-round selection out of the University of New Mexico by the Dolphins in the 2018 NFL Draft. He has turned into one of the top long-distance kickers in the league and was named a First-Team All-Pro in 2020. He has converted 84.6 percent of his field goal attempts in his career, including going 37-for-41, a 90.2 percent success rate, last year. His career-long field goal is 57 yards, reaching that mark in both 2023 and 2024.
Patterson has played well this year in Sanders’ absence. Having spent time with the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons since joining the league in 2021, Patterson has converted on 92.3 percent of his field goal attempts this season for Miami, including setting a new career long last week with a 54-yard kick.
Asked Thursday who would be the team’s kicker against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Dolphins special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman replied, “We’re going to go though the process this week and see what’s going on. Obviously, we opened up the window for Jason. It’s good to have him back out there. We’re going to take everything that we can from yesterday’s practice, to today, to Friday. Gather all that information, talk to the athletic training staff, talk to Jason, talk to Riley and stuff and just make sure we’re all on the same page. But we’ll base that decision a little bit later on. I don’t want to speculate when or if we’re going to do it this week or not. Who knows. We’ve just got to make sure everything is right like I talked about last week with Jason.”
Aukerman went on to say Patterson has “done great” for the this this year and that both kickers “have done an unbelievable job throughout their career(s).” He added, “It’s a great thing to have. Two really good kickers that are doing a really good job.”
Asked if it was possible to have both kickers active on Sunday, Aukerman shot down that idea, explaining, “I’ve only had that happen one time and that was a long time ago with Ryan Succop. He was dealing with an injury and we had two kickers up. That was the only time that we’ve had that.”
Miami could look to add Sanders to the 53-man active roster ahead of Sunday’s game, or they could give him up to 21 days of practice before returning him to the roster.
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