Dolphins’ Special Teams Disaster Must Get Fixed — Fast

Calling the Miami Dolphins’ special teams underachievers in last weekend’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders would be an understatement.

Not only did kicker Riley Patterson miss a field goal, but the special teams unit also put the team in poor field position after whiffing on return coverage.

“We’ve got to play better, got to coach better, and that starts with me,” Dolphins special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said Thursday. “There’s a lot of things we’ve got to work on.

“We’re definitely a work in progress, but it needs to get a lot better by Sunday. This is a really good unit. They’ve got really good returners. Punt returner is electric. Obviously, Deebo Samuel is electric. But this is really more about us and what we need to get done and improve, so that’s what we’re going to try to concentrate on today, and hopefully it carries over to Sunday.”

Special teams mistakes plagued the Dolphins against the Raiders

Many expected the Dolphins’ offense and defense to have some hiccups this season, considering they have a young team. They moved on from several veterans during the offseason, including Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

But Miami’s special teams unit wasn’t expected to be a major source of its issues. Tabor was specifically asked what went wrong on returns after Malik Washington lost a fumble, but he refused to blame anyone publicly.

“I understand the question, but really, you comment on things like that, you’re making excuses,” Tabor said. “We’re not in the excuse business. We’re in the production business, and we’ve got to get better.

“We’ve got to coach better. So we’re all in it together. I’ll say this: I like the guys that I have, and I know it wasn’t up to what we want it to be, but I believe in them, and I believe they’ll get better. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. Hopefully, you always see an improvement from Game 1 to Game 2, so we’ll see if that takes place.”