Dolphins’ Trader deals with fallout, feeling ‘like the smallest person in world’
As Dolphins safety Dante Trader Jr. tried fruitlessly to sleep Sunday night, he couldn’t get the missed tackle out of his mind or the sick feeling out of his stomach.
So the rookie got out of bed in the middle of the night and watched video of receiver Ladd McConkey juking him out and leaving him in the dust on a three-yard reception and 39-yard run that set up the Chargers’ game-winning field goal.
And then he watched it again. And again.
“I’ve watched it over 30 times,” Trader said at his locker this week. “I want to mitigate the risk of it happening again.”
It’s natural for high school and college players to glamorize becoming an NFL player. Who wouldn’t want to be paid to play a game they love, at the highest of levels?
But there’s an element of anguish to the game, and Trader experienced the worst of it Sunday.
“I didn’t sleep that night,” he said during a quiet moment at his locker this week.
“That’s just who I am. I feel like I let Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jordyn Brooks, Ashtyn Davis, coach [Anthony] Weaver, everybody down. I felt I let them down.”
The throw wouldn’t have even happened if Jaelan Phillips hadn’t allowed Justin Herbert to escape his grasp. And defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver revealed Thursday that Fitzpatrick also had culpability on the play. But none of that comforted Trader.
By the middle of the night, it became clear to Trader that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.
“First 24 hours were very hard,” he said. “You feel like you let the team down and possibly cost the game. As a rookie, you don’t want to feel that way, like the smallest person in the world. But credit to Ladd. He made a great play.”
The irony is that Trader had been “working on” those sideline area tackles in the weeks before Sunday.
“Just because you work on something it doesn’t guarantee you will execute and do your job,” he said. “Ultimately, that play is on me. Ultimately I put the game in my hands for losing that game. I’ve been really tough on myself.”
In Trader’s defense, McConkey likely would left several defensive backs in a similarly humbling position. The Chargers’ second-year receiver has 110 catches and nine touchdowns in his first NFL 22 NFL games, while displaying an ability to deftly escape defenders.
But Trader said he made a misjudgment on the play. McConkey caught the pass at the Chargers’ 43, and Trader said he needed to be more cognizant of the fact that the Dolphins coaches identified Miami’s 40-yard line as the spot on the field that would be within Charger kicker Cameron Dicker’s range.
After juking out Trader, McConkey sprinted to the Dolphins’ 17 before running out of bounds with 22 seconds left.
“In that situation, I see him wide open; nobody is on him,” Trader said. “I’ve got to slow down and come to balance. In those situations where they have to get to the kick line, which was the 40 that game, just get him down. I try to close space when he wasn’t looking. That’s one of the guys you got to close space on or he’s going to run by you. I’ve got to bend and come under control.
“At times I run too fast downfield and don’t necessarily get my pad level down. I’ve got to track that near hip. I’ve made some this season that are one on one that are tough.”
Weaver said the fact Fitzpatrick misheard something also factored into the play.
Fitzpatrick mistakenly heard a teammate say the word “cut” and “thought his guy was getting cut. Trader was trying to make it right and just missed the tackle.”
That Trader is playing this much (36 plays Sunday) is surprising considering the Dolphins have four veterans at safety and considering Trader missed much of preseason and training camp with an injury.
When former Lions starter Ifeatu Melifonwu signed with the Dolphins in March, he was expected to be a starter. But the Dolphins clearly believe that Trader gives them a better chance to win, at least this past Sunday
Trader’s maturity has impressed teammates.
“You wouldn’t know he was a rookie,” Rasul Douglas said.
And Trader vows to learn from it.
“Long before Sunday, he began keeping a list of his missteps.
“I have a board where I have missed a tackle or mental error, I mark it down,” he said. “To keep myself aware of mistakes or errors. Every error is a lesson.”
The hope is that none of future errors will be as costly, or painful, as Sunday’s.
Here’s my Thursday morning pack of Dolphins notes, including more from Weaver and Phillips’ reaction to trade rumors.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM.
