DAVIE, Fla. _ Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi is in the NFL concussion protocol due to a hit he sustained in Monday's practice, most likely from safety T.J. McDonald during a two-minute drill. When Ajayi will return to practice is uncertain and will be determined by team trainers, not coaches or Ajayi.
"Especially with the concussions, they go through the protocol," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said Wednesday, "and whatever the timetable is, it is what it is. I think by now in our league we all know that."
Running backs Kenyan Drake and Damien Williams will share the load in Ajayi's absence, which they did in Wednesday's practice.
Gase didn't sound as though Ajayi's injury is a major training camp setback.
"We had a certain plan for him anyways for the preseason of what he's going to do, when he was going to do it, so I don't really see this as taking away from a lot of the things we were going to do with him."
Gase said the power running game probably won't be curtailed much with Ajayi sidelined.
"It's funny," he said. "Jay likes the outside zone stuff. The other guys, smaller guys actually like the inside zone stuff, they like mixing it up pretty good. Jay really likes getting a feel for it, working those angles. The body type is really irrelevant.
"The scheme, some guys like it when we get everybody moving lateral. When you're Jay's size, when he squares up and starts going downhill, those guys are all running so he runs through those arm tackles and it's hard to get him down."
Although Ajayi was the workhorse of the running backs last season, rushing for 1,272 yards and earning a Pro Bowl berth, Gase said he'd like to get all three running backs more work, saying the Dolphins "probably didn't use them as much" as they could have last season.
"Kenyan had a lot on his plate and we tried to expand his role a little bit and it probably was too much for him sometimes," Gase said. "Now that he's more comfortable (we're) seeing how far we can take him.
"We have a really good feel for Damien with what he likes, what he can do. Jay's been very vocal about how he wants to be more effective in the passing game and he's done a great job with that."
Gase, when asked, didn't comment on exactly how Ajayi was injured, but he did volunteer it was not in a "live" period, meaning a period when they tackle to the ground. McDonald told reporters he hit Ajayi during such a period of Monday's practice.
"He didn't get a concussion in the live period," Gase said. "That wasn't live. He just kind of didn't see him. That was in the two-minute drill."
