The Dolphins appear to have narrowed their search for a temporary replacement for Jason Sanders amid sudden change in injury outlook

Jason Sanders is set to miss about a month. Miami seems to have narrowed the search for a replacement.

Kyle Crabbs — NFL National Writer
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The Miami Dolphins‘ new-look special teams unit is going to look a little more different than anyone expected — at least for the first few weeks of the season. Kicker Jason Sanders suffered some kind of injury during Miami’s preseason win over Jacksonville this past weekend and, after appearing to have avoided anything major, a pivot in the reporting on Monday indicated that the Dolphins will be without Sanders for about a month.

Miami started the process of identifying a replacement today — working out several kickers to hold the fort down while Sanders recovers.

Miami Dolphins work out a collection of kickers amid Jason Sanders’ injury

Per Barry Jackson’s reporting, the Dolphins worked out kickers Riley Patterson, Greg Joseph, Zane Gonzelez and Eddy Pineiro on Tuesday amid the news that Jason Sanders was going to be missing several weeks of action with what has been reported to be a hip injury. The Dolphins have the ability to take this news relatively in stride but changes to the range of their kicking game and the execution of kickoffs amid the new rule changes and kickoff structure could alter Miami’s plan of attack for special teams in the early chapters of this season.

Jackson is reporting that Riley Patterson is favored to fill the role, but until the dust fully settles across the league with today’s cutdown deadline, Miami may take their time in formally signing a kicker until later this week. Tomorrow, the Dolphins are able to open additional roster spots beyond the two they are initially afforded for injured reserve with designations to return, which could allow Miami more wiggle room with their other roster decisions. Alternatively, Miami could sign their choice of a kicker to the practice squad and then elevate him onto the active roster for the first three games of the season — that would be Miami’s best path if they were confident in Sanders’ timeline to return.

There’s a lot of moving parts. But for now, we know Miami has worked out several accomplished kickers and may have their eyes set on a preferred option as cuts unfold across the league.

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