Eagles’ Jay Ajayi: From midseason acquisition to Super Bowl

Talk about a wild ride.

One day, Jay Ajayi was a member of the Miami Dolphins, the team that made him a fifth-round draft pick in 2015. The next, he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

‘The openness of the locker room is big for me’

And that Oct. 31 trade, that sent the running back to the City of Brotherly Love for a fourth-round draft pick, ended up being much more than he could have ever imagined. Sunday, Ajayi will get the chance to play in his first Super Bowl when the Eagles face the New England Patriots.

“I think the openness of the locker room is big for me, the guys allowing me to be myself and just taking me in and welcoming me,” Ajayi recalled about the transition to his new team for Alex Marvez on Late Hits. “That was huge for me. Another thing was just an understanding that it was team that was doing well and just trying to play my role and do everything I could to help this team win and just continue to play my part.”

‘I respect LG a lot, just what he has accomplished in his career’

Ajayi has become a nice backfield complement to LeGarrette Blount. And he is honored to be a teammate of someone who has plenty of Super Bowl experience as a former Patriot.

“I respect LG a lot, just what he has accomplished in his career — the fact that he’s a winner and he’s done it on the biggest stage twice and this will be his third opportunity to,” Ajayi said. “So I have a lot of respect for him and the way he runs, how hard he runs. It’s just about us pushing each other all the time.”

‘You’ve just got to understand that they do a lot of things well’

Between whatever Blount has shared and having played in the AFC East, Ajayi has pretty good understanding of what the Eagles can expect from the Patriots.

“You’ve just got to understand that they do a lot of things well and they try and take your best schemes away from you,” Ajayi said. “The other thing is that they’re very strong in the red zone, so it’s about us capitalizing when we get down there, making sure we leave with points. It’s a team that you won’t beat them; you kind of beat yourself. And so you’ve just got to make sure that you don’t make those mistakes and you just stay on them all four quarters.”