NFL Media's Oklahoma Drill series presents exclusive, quick-hitting one-on-one interviews with players and coaches from around the league. No nonsense -- just football experiences directly from the source.
Jay Ajayi
Running back, Miami Dolphins
Born: June 15, 1993
Experience: One NFL season
Interview by Rachel Wenzlaff | July 11, 2016
[Football has] been growing a lot [in London]. Definitely, growing up there, I didn't have a clue about the game. It wasn't as talked about then as it is now, so I definitely think the NFL has been doing a great job just expanding.
I moved to the States in 2000. I moved to Texas like a year later, and, you know, American football is huge in Texas.
I was rooting for England [in the UEFA European Championship]. I watched every game that I could. Very disappointed in how they did this year.
I like watching soccer better now, just cause I play [football] so much, and, I don't know, I'd rather watch soccer or college football now rather than the NFL, just cause I'm in it now.
Where I moved in Florida, it's very similar to where my family lives in Dallas right now, which is Plano, [Texas], and I live in Plantation, and its very just laid-back and chill -- its very homey. … I can go 30 minutes on the highway and I can be in Miami right away, kind of similar in Texas to where I live in Plano; I get on the highway and I can be in downtown Dallas right away. So it just definitely lets me get a good vibe of home, and it's great weather. You can't beat it.
I feel like you can get in some trouble out [in Miami], and I just like the fact that I don't have to be in the scene. But if I do want to go to like the beach or go to the city or anything, go out with some friends, it's not like crazy far away.
I'm definitely confident going into training camp. [Starting in the NFL is] something I've been working for my whole life, and so I'm definitely ready for the moment, ready for the opportunity and excited about it. It's just about piecing good practices back to back and constantly improving, so that when I get to the regular season and the games, I can just hit the ground running.
I'm not worried about staying healthy.What happened was kind of just a weird incident, but I feel great. I've been trying to keep my body in the best shape possible to prepare myself to go through a full NFL season, and so I'm just going to keep working hard like I have been and just pray for no injuries.
It was a crazy feeling. I was thinking about scoring my first touchdown so heavily because I was at the point that we were getting close to the end of year, and I wasn't trying to go into the offseason without scoring my first touchdown. I had maybe a couple games left, so I was really antsy to get the opportunity to carry the ball and score, and so when I was able to do that, it just felt like a huge weight off my back. … We were playing the Chargers, and me and Melvin Gordon are real close -- that's like my brother -- and for him to kind of be there to see me score. … We talked after the game and switched jerseys.
I believe it started in soccer. After every game, you switch the kit with the other player on the other team, just as a respect thing. And I definitely think once NFL guys started catching on to it, it was not too long ago where you started seeing NFL guys do it. I had always said to myself, growing up just from being in that culture, that if I ever made it to the NFL that I would switch a jersey. So I was glad that they started doing it before I got in so that it wasn't like, Who's this guy switching the jersey?
That was kind of like a one-time thing; it was kind of extreme measures,extreme precautions when I did that, because I was cramping really badly and I had to go out on offense, and one of my teammates for some reason had a jar of pickles in his locker. So they went and grabbed it, and me, not being aware of ESPN cameras everywhere, cause it was a national game, I'm just drinking on the sidelines like it doesn't matter -- and I got caught for Not Top Ten. So there will be no more pickle juice drinking on the sidelines anymore.
Most of the guys that make it to the NFL were guys that were successful at [the college] level, aand so they had a level of confidence about their skill set, had a level of comfort being on the field, making plays. So I think once you get in and you kind of go down to being that rookie again, and so you kind of have to be like, even if I'm a rookie, I can't act like I was as a freshman in college. You have to come in and produce, so you have to have that confidence on the field.
Once we started hearing all the great accolades that he [Adam Gase] had -- of being an offensive genius and seeing which teams he had worked with prior, like the Bears and the Broncos and how their offenses were very successful -- you have to get excited. And then after finally meeting him, he's a younger guy who's just excited, energetic, always talking smack with us to the defensive players -- it's been great. I'm enjoying our time together, and I know we're still growing all together as a team, but it's been really fun.
I definitely think that you'll see growth from [quarterback Ryan Tannehill] this year. He's going to be doing something different than what he was doing last year. He's going to have a lot more flexibility at the line, and so it's just going to be great to see him take that next step and help lead our offense to win some games this year.
We got a whole new offensive scheme, and so [Tannehill is] going to get the opportunity to kind of have some leeway at the line of scrimmage to do what he wants to do.
[Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong] Suh on the field -- he's a bully and he's one of the premier players in the game. … Getting to go against that defensive line … every day in practice, I think for our O-line, for our whole offense, it's just going to help us to get better each day.
As for my rookie season, it was just like, you're going from finishing up at college to the draft -- all that pre-draft stuff -- and then you get drafted, and it's like boom, you're in it, no break, a lot of things coming at you full-speed.
I want them to know I'm just a team-first kind of guy, a guy that wants to win at all costs, is aggressive and really wants to help bring a division title [to Miami] and make the playoffs, and help the Dolphins come back to relevance and be a team that can dominate.
