Dolphins vs. Jets live updates: Waller stars, but Tyreek Hill leaves with scary injury
The Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets are scheduled to kick off at 7:15 but keep it locked here for more pregame updates.
Dolphins tack on field goal:
The Dolphins are 3:33 away from their first win of the year.
Miami killed 3:29 before kicker Riley Patterson hit a 36-yard field goal to push the Dolphins’ lead to two touchdowns at 27-13. Barring a collapse, the Dolphins will win for the first time this season.
Miami Dolphins’ offense keeps rolling:
Even without Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins’ offense keeps rolling.
Running back De’Von Achane answered Jets quarterback Justin Fields’ long touchdown run with a 9-yard score of his own and Miami pushed its lead back to 24-10 with 5:20 left in the third quarter Monday.
The Dolphins scored on four of their first five drives on Monday Night Football, getting two touchdowns from tight end Darren Waller since coming out of a one-year retirement in July, plus a field goal by kicker Riley Patterson and then Achane’s run in the third.
Miami has only topped 24 points once this season – when it scored 27 in a loss to the Patriots on Sept. 14 – and is doing this despite missing Hill for nearly the entire third quarter after he suffered a seemingly serious left leg injury on the Dolphins’ first drive of the half.
Darren Waller scores another touchdown:
Welcome back to the NFL, Darren Waller.
After catching his first touchdown since 2023 in the first quarter of his first game since coming out of a one-year retirement, Waller snagged another touchdown in the third quarter to put the Dolphins up 17-3 on the Jets on Monday.
The tight end’s first touchdown came in the back of the end zone as he skied over a pair of defenders, using his 6-foot-6 frame to pluck the ball out of the air in traffic. His second came on a designed rollout for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who drifted to his right with a choice to either throw to Waller or fellow tight end Julian Hill. The defense stuck with Hill, who ran a shallow route, and Waller wound up uncovered in the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
Waller scored just one touchdown in his last season with the Giants back in 2023. In less than one game with Miami, Waller already has two.
Tyreek Hill suffers scary injury
Tyreek Hill left the Dolphins’ game against the Jets on Monday Night Football with a gruesome-looking leg injury in the second quarter.
The star wide receiver made a 10-yard catch for a third-down conversion right along the right sideline and twisted his left leg beneath Malachi Moore as the New York safety made the tackle out of bounds. The cart immediately came out for Hill, who was fixed with an air cast on his left leg and taken back to the locker room.
Dolphin force third Jets fumble:
The Dolphins forced two fumbles in the first half didn’t waste any time in the second forcing the Jets to put the ball on the ground again.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, linebacker Cameron Goode jarred the ball out of New York wide receiver Isaiah Williams’ hands and safety Dante Trader Jr. jumped on the loose ball to give Miami yet another extra possession.
The Dolphins didn’t force a single turnover in the first three weeks of 2025-26 NFL season. In just a little more than a half against the Jets, Miami forced three.
Dolphins force second turnover:
Two Jets drives, two takeaways for the Dolphins.
For the second straight possession, Miami ended a New York drive by forcing a fumble, this time on a fourth-down sack of Justin Fields. Linebacker Tyrel Dodson shot into the backfield to grab the Jets quarterback and Fields lost his handle on the ball. Linebacker Jaelan Phillips scooped up the loose ball near midfield to give possession to Miami at New York’s 43-yard line.
The decision to go for it on fourth-and-5 was a strange one for the Jets: New York turned down a 53-yard field goal attempt that would have cut the Dolphins’ 10-0 lead down to one possession despite just 15 net passing yards at the time of the decision.
Waller scores in NFL return:
Nearly two years away from the NFL didn’t slow down Darren Waller.
In his first game as a Dolphin and his first NFL game in more than 21 months, Waller hauled in a 14-yard first-down catch on his first drive and then put Miami up 10-0 with 9:20 left in the second quarter when he skied for a 4-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal.
With his first touchdown since 2023, Waller showed exactly what the Dolphins hoped they were getting when they traded for the 6-foot-6 tight end in July following his decision to come out of a one-year retirement.
Dolphins finally force turnover:
The Dolphins finally have their first takeaway of the season–and it came just in time.
Right as Braelon Allen was about to cross the goal line to give New York an early lead on Miami, cornerback Jack Jones stuck out his arm and popped the ball away from the New York running back. Star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick jumped on the loose ball and the Dolphins took over at their own 4-yard line, still clinging to an early 3-0 lead with 3:00 left in the first quarter.
Dolphins open with points:
A solid kick return by wide receiver Malik Washington got the Dolphins’ night started at their own 34-yard line and a few first-down throws from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa set up kicker Riley Patterson to put points on the board.
Tagovailoa linked up with tight end Darren Waller for a 14-yard gain on one third down, then hit star wide receiver Tyreek Hill for 8 yards and another first down on Miami’s next third-down play to push the Dolphins inside the Jets’ 40-yard line. Miami’s drive eventually stalled out at the 29 and Patterson made the 47-yard field goal to put the Dolphins up 3-0 with 10:55 left in the first quarter.
Darren Waller gets back to work:
Darren Waller didn’t waste much time getting back on the stat sheet in his first NFL game in almost two years.
On the first drive of his first game since the 2023-24 NFL season, Waller hauled in a 14-yard pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to help set up the Dolphins for an opening-drive field goal. The tight end’s grab picked up a first down on third-and-5 from Miami’s 39-yard line.
Waller, who made the Pro Bowl in 2020, abruptly retired in 2024 after one season with the Giants, but came out of retirement when the Dolphins traded for him in July.
Inactives for MNF:
The Dolphins will not have Ethan Bonner as the third-year cornerback continues to deal with a hamstring injury.
Additional inactives include cornerback Storm Duck (ankle), defensive tackle Zeek Biggers (healthy scratch), wide receiver Tahj Washington (healthy scratch) and Quinn Ewers, the latter of whom will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
Another banner flies high above Hard Rock Stadium
Another home game, another banner.
For the second consecutive home game, Dolphins fans have banded together to send a message to the franchise’s top brass. This week’s aerial advertisement read HELP WANTED: NEW COACH, NEW GM, NEW QB.”
PREGAME READING:
- Here’s everything you need to know about Monday’s Dolphins-Jets game
- Dolphins sign kicker to 53-man roster, move rookie cornerback to injured reserve
- Regardless of who wins between Dolphins and Jets, both teams have questions
- Dolphins’ first-round pick Grant on his play: ‘I’m pretty unhappy’. The fallout
- With Darren Waller set to return vs. Jets, the Dolphins’ offense is (almost) whole
This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 6:28 PM.
