Arian Foster might be the one who's hurt.
But the Jay Ajayi rehabilitation project is well underway.
Not his body. From the neck up.
Ajayi has the chance to go from the doghouse to the penthouse in the span of just two weeks. Foster's groin injury has opened the door. Now Ajayi just needs to walk through it.
Foster did not practice Wednesday and is almost certainly out Sunday against the Browns, so Ajayi has the chance to seize the starting running back job that he thought was his throughout most of training camp. But he'll have to earn it.
"We'll look at practice this week, and when we put our (script) together, then we'll have an idea who it'll be," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. "I think we're going use whoever we need to use in this game. And if it's more than one, I'm not opposed to that."
With Foster down, Ajayi, Kenyan Drake, Isaiah Pead and Damien Williams will all compete for who takes the first snap Sunday.
Ajayi is the most logical choice _ assuming the attitude issues that kept him home in the opener truly are behind him.
Ajayi didn't handle losing the starting job to Foster the right way, and Gase punished him for it. But Ajayi told the Miami Herald Wednesday that he's had "conversations" with Gase since the issue and added: "We're good."
Gase seemed to agree.
"He's been very engaged," the coach said before praising Ajayi's willingness to play special teams and his effort in pass protection "I think if we keep rolling with him with where we're at right now, we should improve throughout the year."
Teammates have helped with that. Branden Albert, in particular, has gotten in Ajayi's ear.
Here's what Albert told him:
"Stay patient, do what you gotta do. You can't go in the tank. You gotta be professional about your job."
Albert speaks from experience. When the left tackle played for Kansas City, Chiefs management brought in a potential replacement seemingly every year.
"You've just got to plug away, be the person who you are and don't let nobody change you and stay grounded and do what's asked of you," Albert continued. "Do your job. You can't worry about what you can't control. That's my advice."
When asked Wednesday if this is a fresh start, Ajayi simply said that he feels like this will be a good week for him.
And what will it take to win that job?
"Just consistency, earning the coaches' trust and making plays when your number is called," Ajayi added.
The second-year pro knows there's a line of backs ready to step up if he doesn't.
Drake would appear next in that line; the rookie from Alabama was the only other running back active Sunday. He was also Miami's most effective runner, albeit in a tiny sample size. Drake gained 12 yards on the first two carries of his career, one of which went for a touchdown.
What Drake lacks in experience he more than makes up for in moxie. On Wednesday he insisted he wasn't nervous about potentially starting Sunday.
"I'm ready to play in general. It doesn't matter if I start or if I don't," said Drake, who added he'd be just fine getting 20-25 carries Sunday. "Of course. I'm a football player. Who wouldn't want to get the carries?"
That would be a huge jump for Drake, who never had more than 14 carries in his 38 games at Alabama.
But considering the Dolphins are 27th in the NFL in rushing (68.5 yards per game), perhaps no idea is too far-fetched.
"I'm all right with where we're at right now," Gase said. "I know why certain things are what they are. You'll know if I've got a concern about the running game."
