FOXBORO, Mass. — Brandon Fields can definitely boot the ball a long distance, but it seems the Dolphins have had some trouble catching up with his booming punts.
The Dolphins punter leads the NFL in punt average and net. He boots the ball 49.9 yards per punt with a net of 44.1 yards. He’s pinned 11 of his 31 punts inside the 20-yard line and he has just one touchback, but he’s 25th in the league with just five fair catches. He’s also 25th in the NFL in average yards per return with 9.9.
That means that Julian Edelman has a good shot at getting his hands on some punts on Sunday when the Patriots take on Miami. Edelman is fourth all time in punt return average with 12.8. He’s returning at just below his career mark this season.
Edelman is fourth in the league with 243 return yards. His 11.6 yards per return is good for eighth in the NFL.
“He’s definitely got a strong right leg,” Edelman said of Fields. “He can boom it down there. Hopefully we’ll get some opportunities. We’ve got to be prepared to take advantage of those opportunities. They’ve got a covering team that’s been doing pretty well. We’ll see how that goes.”
Edelman had his longest return of the season against the Jets, a 38-yarder. He said those big returns come from a combination of film study and taking what the special teams coverage unit gives at the time.
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