Belichick: Gase has done ‘tremendous’ job

Patriots coach Bill Belichick faced the Dolphins’ Adam Gase in Week 2. It was Gase’s second game as an NFL coach and he was facing one of the game’s alltime greats, who has led New England to six Super Bowl appearances.

New England won that game 31-24 at home, sending the Dolphins to an 0-2 start that plummeted to 1-4 before Miami rallied to get to 10-5 entering Sunday’s rematch at Hard Rock Stadium. No matter the outcome this week, the Dolphins are playoff bound for the first time since 2008.

“Tremendous,” Belichick said of hi s impression of Gase. “He’s done a great job. They’re balanced in all three areas. It’s as explosive of an offense as we’ve seen all year. ... They’re just getting better each week and finding a way to win.”

So how much difference does Belichick see from what he saw 15 weeks ago?

“Some things look a little different, but we saw plenty of Landry and Parker — they had 240 yards against us,” he said, recalling that Jarvis Landry had 10 catches for 135 yards and DeVante Parker had eight for 106. “We saw plenty of (Ndamukong) Suh. They’re different than they were; we’re different than we were. A lot of water’s gone under the bridge, but it’s two good teams that are going to the postseason. Hopefully, we can play competitively down there.”

B e l i c h i c k w a s a s k e d whether it is in his players’ minds that Miami has won three straight against New England in South Florida. The t ypically tight-lipped coach gave a typical answer: “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see Sunday.”

Ajayi honored: Running back Jay Ajayi was named AFC offensive player of the week for the third time this season.

The last Dolphin to accomplish the feat three times? Dan Marino in 1984.

Ajayi ran for 206 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 34-31 overtime victory against the Bills that helped Miami clinch a playoff berth. Ajayi’s 57-yard run set up the game-winning field goal.

Ajayi has turned in one of the most statistically impressive seasons by any running back in NFL history. Ajayi is sixth in the NFL with 1,213 yards, but incredibly, 624 of those yards (51 percent) have come in three games, as he has topped 200 yards against Pittsburgh and the Bills (twice).

In the year Marino was AFC offensive player of the week three times, he led the Dolphins to a 14-2 record in his second season in the NFL. Marino topped 400 yards passing five times that season, including the AFC championship game.

Injury updates: After a couple weeks with minimal drama injury-wise, the Dolphins have a significant group of players in question for Sunday’s game.

Ajayi injured his shoulder late in the win over Buffalo, but worked in individual position drills during the portion of Wednesday’s practice open to the media. Miami held a non-contact practice, so it’s hard to gauge Ajayi’s readiness based solely on that.

The Dolphins were missing several defenders.

Cornerback Byron Maxwell (ankle) worked on the s i d e a n d t h e r e ’s a go o d chance he’ll miss his second consecutive game Sunday. Linebackers Spencer Paysinger (ankle) and Jelani Jenkins (knee), both potential starters, were not in attendance.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill continues to rehab his sprained left knee inside the facility and has not been seen at any practice since the injury. Gase did not rule him out when asked Monday.