Team-first Ajayi keeping Birds in the running
PHILADELPHIA » If the Eagles win their way into the Super Bowl Sunday, it likely will be because Jay Ajayi found openings, fought off hits, kept moving and didn’t look back.
Such has been his challenge, on the field and off, since careening to the Eagles in a shocking November trade from the Dolphins. Miami, headed no place this season, oddly had no use for a third-year pro who last season had rushed for 1,272 yards, eight touchdowns and a Pro Bowl spot for a playoff team.
So dispensable was Ajayi deemed to be that the Eagles could have him for a conditional fourth-round draft pick. The reason? Whispers, at least, were that he was not a team player, was demanding, undependable and a franchise drain. Him? The player who has so gracefully blended into the Eagles’ multi-weapon system, never complaining about opportunities? The back who Saturday produced 99 yards of offense in a game where no one else was doing much better, the Eagles’ 15-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons?
“I view myself as a team guy,” Ajayi said, at the time of the trade. “It is what it is.”
Circumstances change. Perceptions, too. And while they may change again, all Ajayi and the Eagles know is that together they will take one shot at blasting into the Super Bowl. That’s how quickly so much can change.
“Yeah,” Ajayi was saying, after the game. “I was just talking to one of my guys, a guy who has been in the league nine years. He made it to the NFC Championship Game as a rookie and he never made it back since.”
Last season, his second in the NFL, the Dolphins reached the playoffs and were quickly blasted, 3012, by Pittsburgh. In that game, Ajayi was limited to 33 yards on 16 carries.
“For me, it’s a blessing,” Ajayi said. “I was in the playoffs last year. Now, it is one game from the Super Bowl. A blessing. Thank God. So I will just continue to work so I can achieve the goal and I can achieve the goal of winning a Super Bowl.”
Though Ajayi should be a key in the conference final, the Birds are not predictable. Even Saturday, when it was clear early that they would trust Ajayi, Doug Pederson went away from him in favor of LeGarrette Blount in the second quarter. And it was Blount, not Ajayi, who scored the Birds’ only touchdown.
“We just didn’t have the ball,” the Birds’ coach said. “That and we were off the field. There were a couple three-and-outs and we were punting the football. It was just opportunity at that time, or lack of it.”
Ajayi, the one rumored not to be a team player, understood.
“Those were the plays that were scripted at that time,” Ajayi shrugged. “So I just had to stay in the game at that time.”
Early in the 14-play drive that devoured 7:57 of the fourth quarter and provided the game’s late definition, Ajayi was vital, taking one short Nick Foles pass for three yards and another for 32 to convert a third-and-seven. None of what any Eagle did against Atlanta would win many inseason Player of the Week votes. But they took what was there, and that was enough.
“We were just with it and having staying a downhill mentality,” Ajayi said. “The O-line did a great job today getting push off the ball. And as running backs, we just had to run hard.”
Not that he lacked pregame motivation, but Ajayi added some early, when he surrendered a fumble on the Birds’ second play from scrimmage, leading to an Atlanta field goal.
“To be honest, I feel like I played poorly,” he said. “Obviously, the fumble on the first carry, you can’t do that in a big game. I had a drop as well. I feel like I could have executed a lot better.
“I think it was a great job and a great team win. A lot of the teammates picked up the slack. The defense played lights out. Our other running backs made a lot of plays. So I just think coming in next week, I need to play better.”
If so, he can gain some measure of redemption to what was, at the minimum, a rushed departure from Miami. Saturday, he was heard say vindication will arrive only if the Birds reach the Super Bowl.
Against Atlanta, Ajayi did his part, running with strength, accepting the play-calling balance, applying some self-criticism … and winning.
“Yeah,” he said. “I feel like I did some of the job.” And didn’t look back.
*** The NFC Championship Game will be in the Linc Sunday at 6:40 p.m. A limited supply of tickets will be available Tuesday at 10 a.m. at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Prices range from $170 to $255 and will be limited to four per household. According to the Eagles they will be sold on a “first come, first served basis.”
The game will by on FOX. be televised