How the Dolphins Are Prepared for Certain Emergencies

The Miami Dolphins have some versatility when it comes to their kicking game

Miami Dolphins punter Jake Bailey (16) lifts Miami Dolphins place kicker Jason Sanders (7) after his game winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

One of the biggest stories around the NFL in Week 2 involved the New York Giants having to bypass extra-point and field goal attempts because kicker Graham Gano sustained a groin injury ... after going into the game with a hamstring issue, but Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is confident that sort of predicament will never happen with his team.

McDaniel pointed out to special teams coach Danny Crossman as one reason for his confidence, with another being his kicking specialists' all-around abilities.

"Well, one of the absolute strengths of Coach Crossman is making sure that there's no stone unturned," McDaniel said Friday. "We have reps that back up everything and continuously plan for not only who's kicking the ball, who's punting the ball, who's snapping the ball, who's holding. All of those intricacies you figure out early in OTAs, like who's up for the challenge or who has some history, and then you kind of narrow it down as you go so that you can practice your individual skill sets and have that ready.

"I think that what's also fortuitous for us is the the leg talent of both our punter and kicker because they have the ability to do the other's job sure should the unforeseen happen."

For the record, Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders has not punted at the NFL level, nor did he punt at the University of New Mexico, though he did average 45 and 47 yards per punt in his final two years at Vista High in California. Likewise, punter Jake Bailey hasn't kicked field goals or extra points in the NFL, though he has kicked off. He didn't kick at Stanford, but did it well enough in high school that ESPN ranked him as the fourth-best kicker when he was coming out of high school.

When it comes to holders for field goals and extra points, McDaniel pointed out the team's depth in that area, indicating that Alec Ingold already has done it and River Cracraft and Durham Smythe also could do it.

"We have contingencies on the contingencies," McDaniel said. "We have a lot of depth at holder."

WHAT ABOUT A THIRD QUARTERBACK?

The Dolphins decided to carry two quarterbacks on their active roster, meaning they only could elevate practice squad QB Tim Boyle three times during the regular season.

That option wasn't exercised in the first two games, and the Dolphins were down to Skylar Thompson after Tua Tagovailoa left the Thursday night loss against the Buffalo Bills with a concussion.

While he wouldn't reveal specifics, McDaniel did say there's a plan in place if the Dolphins ever run out of quarterbacks — like the San Francisco 49ers did in the 2022 NFC Championship Game and they had running back Christian McCaffrey taking the snaps.

"It is part of a responsibility to have stuff in place and we do that across the board, Including in games where there's two quarterbacks," McDaniel said. "What happens if those guys aren't in, that one I'll keep tight to the vest because there's a pretty exciting football package behind the second quarterback generally. But you have to assess everything that way because it's kind of our job."