The Miami Dolphins left Jay Ajayi behind in Miami and he will not play in Sunday's game in Seattle.
Ajayi lost a heated battle for the running back job during the preseason. Arian Foster was named the starter earlier this week with Ajayi serving as his backup. Miami has not commented on Ajayi's status, but no specific reason was listed on the team's injury report.
With the scratch from the game being for non-injury reasons, speculation has run rampant that Ajayi is not pleased with his depth chart position. Ajayi played poorly in Miami's final preseason game and it is likely he already was aware of his backup role. Foster sat out the last exhibition game along with the rest of the starting offensive unit.
An un-named Dolphins player further fueled the speculation with his comments to the Miami Herald earlier this week as well.
A Dolphins player told me earlier this week that Ajayi was upset over demotion. "If you let it get the best of you, it shows," he said. — Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) September 9, 2016
Ajayi entered the preseason with a leg-up in the RB competition. Despite Foster's success in the league, he is coming off an injury and Ajayi showed some promise in the 2015 season. Ajayi did not see much work, but found some success in his brief opportunities.
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Assuming Ajayi returns to the roster in the second week, he should slide back into the top backup slot at RB. Miami did not specify who will play behind Foster on Sunday, but Kenyan Drake is a likely choice.
Sunday's game will get underway at 4:05 p.m.
