Tua, Waller Among Five Biggest Storylines for Dolphins-Jets Week 4

The Miami Dolphins will look to get their first victory of the season against the New York Jets

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) changes a play at the line of scrimmage in the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium last week. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will look to get their 2025 season headed in the right direction when they face the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night.

The first of a Week 4 Monday night doubleheader, this game will feature a battle of 0-3 teams.

Ahead of this matchup, we analyze the five biggest storylines:

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TIME FOR TUA

The performance of QB Tua Tagovailoa has been perhaps the biggest topic of conversation involving the Dolphins, even if he's far from the only issue leading to the team's forgettable 0-3 start. But Tagovailoa is the highest-paid player on the team and he is performing at a level much below that which he achieved during the 2022 and 2023 season. If the Dolphins have any hope of turning around their 2025 season, they need for Tagovailoa to start playing like that quarterback. There have been flashy the past couple of weeks, now it's time to do it for a full game.

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THE FIELDS FACTOR

The Dolphins had all sorts of issues with quarterback Justin Fields when they faced him in 2022 as a member of the Chicago Bears, and a repeat of that Fields performance (178 rushing yards, three TD passes) could help the Jets pull off the upset at Hard Rock Stadium. This could become a big challenge for the Dolphins.

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A GORDON REPEAT

Rookie running back Ollie Gordon II enjoyed the best performance of his young career in the Week 3 loss at Buffalo, in the process giving a glimpse of what the Dolphins running game could achieve with the speed of De'Von Achane and the power of Gordon. Additionally, Gordon succeeded in third-and-short running situations, a problematic area for the Dolphins the past couple of years. The Jets run defense ranks near the middle of the pack of terms of average per carry.

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WALLER WATCH

The game against the Jets is expected to mark the long-awaited Dolphins debut of veteran tight end Darren Waller after weeks of uncertainty and mystery surrounding a hip injury that kept him sidelined for pretty much all of training camp and the early part of the regular season. Mike McDaniel said last week that Waller would be on a pitch count, but it's going to be interesting nonetheless to see what he could add to a struggling offense.

Darren Waller at his first Miami Dolphins practice late in training camp | Alain Poupart - Miami Dolphins On SI

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SPECIAL TEAMS FOCUS

One of the reasons the Dolphins find themselves at 0-3 has been special teams breakdowns, with one game-changing play each of the last two weeks — the kickoff return for a touchdown by the New England Patriots' Antonio Gibson and the roughing-the-punter penalty on Zach Sieler against Buffalo — and now the Jets come in after blocking a punt for a touchdown last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Dolphins are now operating right now with the kind of margin for error that will allow them to have another special teams disaster like those.