The Miami Dolphins won this week again. Okay it was a bye week. When is a bye week not a win?
The Dolphins were able to get much needed rest and rehab during the bye week. However team news was coming out of Dolphins camp.
After a second week of explosive running (214 yards, 1 TD), Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row. “It will be good to get this time off to get rest. We were able to get two good games in a row. Refocus and get our minds right for the game against the Jets,” Ajayi stated. Ajayi became just the fourth player to rush for over 200 yards in back-to-back games, after having rushed for 204 yards in Week 6 against the Steelers. Ajayi joined O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and ex-Dolphin Ricky Williams as the only players to accomplish that feat.
With Ajayi’s newly-found success, veteran running back Arian Foster announced his retirement from the NFL. Foster made his Dolphins debut as the Week 1 starter, but was nagged by a long line of soft-tissue injuries early in the Week 2 loss to the Patriots. “This game has been everything to me … my therapy, my joy, my solace and my enemy,” Foster wrote via Uninterrupted.com. He will finish his brief Miami career with 55 rushing yards on 22 attempts. Foster was a great mentor for the young running backs and the coaching staff praised him for that.
Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry was fined $24,309 for his illegal hit on Bills safety Aaron Williams. “I apologized,” Landry said, via the Bills’ official website. “I just told him to get better. You never want to see that happen to anybody. … If I could take that hit back, I would. It’s a guy’s livelihood.” The hit led to Williams being hospitalized with head and neck injuries. Last year Williams had neck surgery with many wondering if he would be back.
Finally off the field, some Dolphins players and front office staff visited Freeport, Bahamas and Haiti for Hurricane Matthew relief efforts. “The Haitians have welcomed us with open arms. They were happy to see us,” Dolphins defensive end Terrence Fede said of his travels to Haiti with the Dolphins. “Both my parents are from Haiti, and growing up it was something that was special to me and still is. Coming out to Haiti to help our people and understand what they’ve been going through means a lot.” The Dolphins partnered with Surge for Water to provide a mobile water purification system that will service 10,000 individuals, 150,000 water purification tablets and hundreds of filters to help the most impacted areas in Southwest Haiti.
Back on the field… along with the running game, Miami’s defensive line is actually getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks led by Ndamukong Suh, moreover stopping the run. This gives the linebackers opportunity to read the pressure on the quarterback and their assignment.
The next four teams on Miami’s schedule are a combined 10-20. It begins with the New York Jets who sit on the bottom of the AFC East. The Jets’ run defense is actually ranked amongst the best.
