Head Coach Adam Gase doesn't know exactly how he'll be using his running backs moving forward, but he does like what he has in Kenyan Drake and Damien Williams.
Those two will be handling the bulk of the work at running back in the aftermath of the trade that sent Jay Ajayi to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
"We'll see how it works," Gase said Wednesday. "We're going to go through practice this week and see what fits. I like the three guys that we got, their skill sets. We're going to be able to maximize what they do well."
The third running back on the Dolphins roster is first-year player Senorise Perry, who earned a spot on the 53-man roster after spending the 2016 season on the practice squad.
Gase says he likes Perry's potential, but logic suggests it will be Drake and Williams who will be handling most, if not all, of the work at running back starting Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
"Damien has impressed me from the get-go," Gase said. "I was told when I got here that when the lights come on on Sunday, he's one of those guys you want with you. He's done nothing but make plays for us. Kenyan fits the mold of what we're looking for in that backfield. I like those two guys working together."
Anatomy of a trade: Gase said the Ajayi trade was an eye toward the future, with discussions about the long-term make-up at running back beginning back in the spring. "It was just time for us to move," Gase said. "We've had conversations about what we're going to do down the road. Felt like this was a good opportunity. We kind of put some feelers to see where other teams were at. We've got some younger players there that we feel like we were going to move forward with. That was kind of the decision we came to." Gase said the Dolphins did not make inquiries to try to add a veteran running back before the 4 p.m. trading deadline Tuesday.
Line on Landry: Amid reports the Dolphins were entertaining the idea of trading wide receiver Jarvis Landry before the deadline Tuesday, Gase said his vision is for Landry to be part of the team for a long time. "I can't remember when everybody was saying that we were trading him and we told him a long time he wasn't going anywhere," Gase said. "We have a vision for what we want that wide receiver room to look like and we expect him to be a huge part of that. I like that group. I like that group a lot. I think we have not only a lot of talent we have a lot of guys that are trying to do it right and they fight through the entire game."
The Cutler case: Quarterback Jay Cutler told Gase last week he wanted to play against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, but the decision was made to give him more time to heal from the rib injury he sustained against the Jets. The Dolphins will be keeping a close eye in practice this week on Cutler, whose availability for the Raiders game will come down to pain tolerance. "From what I've been told it's going to come down to how painful is it going to be when we start throwing, moving around in the pocket, getting hit," Gase said. "That's really what it's going to come down to, how much is it? We won't know. When he runs on Monday and throws a little bit and says he feels pretty good. He was trying to convince me that he could go. I feel like he's feeling OK, but I thought it was the right decision to start Matt (Moore) last week and really give him more time to get healed up."
New approach: Gase said he felt a sense of urgency from his players when they returned from their long weekend, and he's also done his part to help the Dolphins offense start producing a consistent level. Gase said he has changed the way the Dolphins will practice, conduct walk-through, teach and game-plan, among other things. "We're not going to stay the same," Gase said. "We're not going to keep doing the same thing and banging our head against the wall. We're going to make changes. I'm not talking about personnel, I'm just talking about the way that we're going about things and the way that we're teaching, the way that we game-plan. That's what we should be doing. If we sit here and do the same thing over and over again and just keep saying, well, it 's execution or I gotta call different plays and things like that, we're really kidding ourselves. At the end of the day, we've got to find the right way to teach, we have to find the right way to learn and then we've got to find what allows us to execute best on Sunday."
"We'll see how it works," Gase said Wednesday. "We're going to go through practice this week and see what fits. I like the three guys that we got, their skill sets. We're going to be able to maximize what they do well."
The third running back on the Dolphins roster is first-year player Senorise Perry, who earned a spot on the 53-man roster after spending the 2016 season on the practice squad.
Gase says he likes Perry's potential, but logic suggests it will be Drake and Williams who will be handling most, if not all, of the work at running back starting Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
"Damien has impressed me from the get-go," Gase said. "I was told when I got here that when the lights come on on Sunday, he's one of those guys you want with you. He's done nothing but make plays for us. Kenyan fits the mold of what we're looking for in that backfield. I like those two guys working together."
