Dolphins Hope Zane Gonzalez Can Fix Their Kicking Woes

The Miami Dolphins are changing kickers and they hope it finally brings consistency.

Miami will have a new kicker when it takes on the New York Jets on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the Dolphins released Riley Patterson and signed veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez to their practice squad.

So what about Gonzalez’s skill set led Miami to make the switch?

“Zane’s a good player,” Dolphins special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said. “I said that in training camp, I said that in OTAs. I felt like we had two NFL-quality players. Obviously, we’ve made the change. I know Coach Haf addressed that and we’re always going to do what we feel is best for the team at the moment and that’s what we did. And Zane, looking forward to watching him play on Sunday.”

The Dolphins didn’t just sign Gonzalez to make field goals, but also to execute kickoffs properly

Patterson made seven of his nine field-goal attempts with the Dolphins. However, he struggled on kickoffs, which ultimately contributed to Miami moving on.

Gonzalez competed with Patterson during training camp. However, he was placed on injured reserve after suffering an undisclosed injury and was later released by Miami on Aug. 19 with an injury settlement.

In Miami’s Week 5 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Dolphins allowed an 81-yard kickoff return to open the game. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley told reporters Monday that the kickoff plan wasn’t executed properly.

Tabor, however, has been impressed with what he has seen from Gonzalez.

“I was really pleased with Zane, how he was hitting the ball. Zane has been a guy in this league that’s very consistent,” Tabor said. “I would say that his heart rate is the same all the time, whether it’s an extra point or a game winner. If he happens to miss one, his heart rate is still the same, and he’s going to come right to the next one. He’s a seasoned pro.

“I’ve really watched him grow from when I was with another team and we drafted him to where he is now. You’re dealing with two different people, really.”

Now, Gonzalez gets his chance to prove Tabor right.

With the Dolphins desperate for any spark at 0-5, they’re hoping their latest change at kicker can provide a little stability — and maybe help turn around a season that has gone badly off the rails.