When rosters were cut to 53 and the Dolphins made a conscious decision to go younger, their special-teams units suffered in two ways. First, young players who stepped up last year on special teams have earned starting roles, so the number of their snaps on special teams will decline. The second reason for the decline is that the Dolphins parted ways with many of their top special-teamers from a year ago.

Nate Jones, last year's leading tackler on special teams, is now with the Broncos. CB Jason Allen, who was second with 15 special-teams tackles in 2009, is now starting, along with LB Cameron Wake and FS Chris Clemons. Wake was in the game on punt returns on Monday night. Reggie Torbor, Charlie Anderson and Erik Walden are among players who made significant contributions on special teams last year and aren't on the roster this year. Walden has been on and off the roster this season but was responsible for the blocked punt against the Jets.

Sparano told reporters Tuesday that he wants his core players to play better on special teams. "If we need to put some starters out there right now, then we will."

The biggest concern, though, is that Sparano highlighted special teams as an area that needed improvement before the Patriots game. After having a punt blocked by the Jets and allowing Brad Smith to average over 37 yards per kick return, he had acknowledged that the unit needed fixing, but it regressed immensely on Monday night.