Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi didn't make the trip to Seattle for Sunday's season opener due to coach Adam Gase's decision to leave him home. There's no word yet on why Gase decided to leave Ajayi in South Florida.
Ajayi, the 2015 fifth-round pick from Boise State was named the backup to Arian Foster on Monday when the official depth chart was released.
Gase was asked about that decision shortly after the depth chart became public.
"I think a little bit of the reason is experience," he said. "But at the same time I think Arian, from the time he's gotten here, has really shown that, that is the correct spot for him to be in. He had a really good camp.
"He did everything we asked him to do as far as what we wanted to see in the preseason and he's been very consistent in his knowledge of the offense in the short period of time that he was here _ it was impressive to watch him (and) how quickly he picked it up."
Prior to that, Ajayi had been working with the first-team offense while Foster, who was being brought along slowly as he recovers from last year's season-ending Achilles injury, worked sparingly.
But Ajayi lost a fumble and had a dropped pass in the preseason finale against Tennessee, which might have damaged his chances at being a starter.
Ajayi is among five running backs on the 53-man roster, an unusually high total. He's joined by Foster, Damien Williams, Kenyan Drake and Isaiah Pead. All but Foster missed time in training camp and regular season due to injuries. Pead (hamstring) is questionable for Sunday.
