December 4, 2020
Jason Sanders is bringing home some more hardware. For the third time since December 2019 (out of a possible four months), Sanders earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors.
The man with 98 points on the season is going back-to-back with a repeat from October when he also won the award. With a career field goal percentage of 86.1, Sanders is the franchise's all-time leader in the statistic.
Today, on The Blitz, we detail Sanders' bullseye accuracy from deep, and how he consistently splits the uprights in his own words.
Here's what's happening today in Davie.
Thursday Injury Report
Dolphins:
Running back DeAndre Washington (hamstring) did not practice Thursday.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (left thumb), wide receiver/running back Malcolm Perry (chest), offensive guard Solomon Kindley (foot) and running back Salvon Ahmed (shoulder) were limited in Miami's Thursday practice.
Bengals:
Defensive tackle Christian Covington, cornerback Tony Brown, long snapper Clark Harris, offensive guard Alex Redmond and safety Brandon Wilson did not practice Thursday.
Defensive tackle Xavier Williams, offensive guard B.J. Finney and wide receiver Mike Thomas were limited participants in Cincinnati's Thursday practice.
For the rest of the Dolphins-Bengals Week 13 injury report, click here.
They Said It
Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders is the Special Teams Player of the Month in the AFC for November. Sanders became the first kicker in NFL history to connect on six field goals (6-for-6) of 50-plus yards in a calendar month. Since 1991, only twice has a kicker made even five 50-plus yard kicks in a single month. He became the first Dolphins kicker to make two 50-plus yard kicks in a game when he did it against Arizona in Week 8 (56 and 50 yards). He then did it again against the Jets last week (54 and 51 yards).
"It all starts with picking a small target in your background, so when I'm kicking field goals, I like to define a small target in the stadium," Sanders said. "It could be a pole, it could be lettering on the stadium. But in the offseason, I'm doing the same drills I do basically now, so the only difference in the offseason to now is there's a couple days that I might just kick at a pole so I'm aiming at a smaller target. But other than that, I just want to treat every time I'm kicking the ball, I just want to treat it the same swing."
Sanders made 9-of-10 field goals in November and all 13 of his extra point attempts. On the season, he's 24-of-25 on field goals and 26-of-26 on extra points.
Around the Beat
Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post explores Sanders' Pro Bowl credentials.
Dolphins On Social
On this Day in Dolphins History
December 4, 2005 - Trailing the Buffalo Bills 21-0 in the second quarter, the Dolphins go on to score 24 of the game's next 26 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, as they register the second-largest comeback win in team history, 24-23. Chris Chambers highlights the victory as he sets Dolphins single-game records for both receptions (15) and receiving yards (238).
Stat of the Day
Sanders' streak of successful field goals from 50-plus is 10, dating back to last season. It;s the longest active streak in the NFL.
Know the Bengals
Brian Flores was asked about the Bengals special teams unit on Thursday, which ranks sixth in the NFL according to Football Outsiders.
"Schematically, they do a good job," Flores said. "They're not afraid to run some fakes, which they got one off last week. This is going to be a challenge, I think, for our special teams unit, and we've got to play well in that phase. They've shown that they can keep themselves in a game strictly off of special teams. We've got to do a good job."
Content on Tap
It's Friday! That means the return of Dolphins Today and Fins Flashback. You can catch the former on MiamiDolphins.com and our YouTube page. We're flashing back to 2000 when the Dolphins scored 31 of the last 34 points in a Cincinnati route. Oronde Gadsden is riding shotgun on Drive Time with Travis Wingfield, available wherever you get your podcasts. You can find the written flashback on MiamiDolphins.com with quotes from the former Dolphins wide receiver, who scored twice in the game.
