Ajayi misses first padded practice

Jay Ajayi having a knee issue before pads even went on is not good, obviously. He's supposed to be the starting RB.

Jay Ajayi is on the stationary bike but not pedaling. Simply pumping the handle bars to get some conditioning. Not a good picture.

Jay Ajayi's knee injury is not serious.

Running back Jay Ajayi missed practice today. He apparently knocked knees or something with linebacker Jelani Jenkins during practice Sunday and started feeling discomfort during meetings last night.

He got with trainers and it was diagnosed as a bone bruise. Now, Ajayi has a chronic bone-on-bone issue in his right knee. But this injury is to his left knee.

"I feel like it's just going to be a couple of days before I'm back to normal. All it was was a bone bruise. We're just doing precautionary measures and letting the swelling go down. And once that happens I'll be back out with the team and getting to work."

Ajayi is day to day.

Ajayi's absence today meant Isaiah Pead started the practice as the starting running back. But he was not able to finish practice. Pead seemed to tweak his left hamstring or suffer a cramp in the back of his left leg and stopped working three or four periods before the session was complete.

That meant a lot of work today for Kenyan Drake, Daniel Thomas and even Arian Foster, who is still learning the system but got a couple of first-team snaps in two minute drills.

I have to say, the running back corps is ... interesting.

We know Ajayi has a history with the knee. We know Foster is productive and Pro Bowl caliber but is often injured. Drake was injured a lot in college. Thomas was injured a good deal with the Dolphins during his previous stints with the team.

Those are facts.

Damien Williams, who was on the physically unable to perform list the first four days of training camp, is going to be activated by practice time Tuesday and will work for the first time, coach Adam Gase said.

rightchea wrote:that is exactly why Miami should have drafted a RB. I not understanding for the love of myself why they didn't get a RB.

Degarmo wrote:Isn't Drake a return specialist?  If he can fill that role well and flip fields, it's worth the pick.  He's also a gunner, so, again, if he can make an impact there, he's worth it.  Special teams guys are overlooked, and the really good ones can impact a game.

Ever since coach Adam Gase said running back Arian Foster would be "rolling with the ones" it has been clear that the Dolphins have found their starting running back. But as the team needs two running backs that can contribute because Foster has a long injury history and Gase has a long history of distributing carries among multiple backs, it is important for Jay Ajayi to get healthy and back on the field.

"He's not falling behind mentally for sure," Gase said today. "For me, the sooner we can get him back the better. He's working hard to get back. It's so day-to-day. Everyday we walk in and say, 'Alright where's he at?' ... I know he's itching to get back there because he knows his biggest thing is getting that feeling for what we're doing in the running game and looking at the line of scrimmage and understanding, 'how do I fit in with the o-line.' "

Interestingly, Foster already has that feeling after only six practices.

"That's the thing Arian has done a great job at," Gase sadi. "Right away, a couple of days in, he's got a good feel where some of his holes are popping. Jay is trying to do the same thing, it's just that some of the things we're doing is different than what he's done in the past."

"We're still developing what's best for [Jay Ajayi]," Gase said. "So right now it's real generic. As we get through the preseason and we get into the regular season, we'll have a better idea. We're going to do what he does best. We're still trying to figure that out."