Dolphins receiver Kenny Stills talks about Jay Ajayi

The Miami Dolphins watched running back Jay Ajayi run through and over people in 2016 on his way to three 200 yard games. Today, Kenny Stills stepped in front of the media and talked about Ajayi.

In a way it had to be somewhat refreshing for Kenny Stills to stand in front of the media and not have to get peppered with contract questions and performance questions or any of that other stuff that most players hate. While some in the media took their time to ask about the offense and youth, it seemed more interesting apparently to ask about Jay Ajayi.

Stills answered a total of seven questions after today’s morning practice. Of those seven one was about his contract, one was about his 2nd year with Adam Gase, and three were about Jay Ajayi. Of course not actually being at the press conference could mean I’m missing something but the Dolphins spoke with Ajayi yesterday after practice. It seems the media is really high on Jay Ajayi this year.

Stills is coming off a solid season and earned a new contract in the off-season. After an uneventful year in 2015, Stills showed why the Dolphins traded for him. His new four-year deal includes just under $20 million in guarantees on a potential $32 million dollar deal.

In 2016, Still led the Dolphins in touchdowns with nine and the Dolphins are hoping he will continue to stretch the field in 2017. One thing is clear, Stills is emerging as a leader on the offense.

Here is his full transcript courtesy of MiamiDolphins.com.

Friday, July 28, 2017

WR Kenny Stills

(As you enter training camp and prepare for the season, is there an ease in your mind now that there’s no contract to be playing for. I’m not saying that you’re going to be working any less hard, but are things a little bit mentally easier?) – “I don’t know. That’s not something I really think about, honestly.”

(What changes tomorrow intensity-wise when the pads come on?) – “You hear the pads popping, that’s pretty much it. We’ve been going pretty hard. You see the tempo. You’ll hear the pads popping here and there and you’ll see some guys showing a little more aggression.”

(How different is RB Jay Ajayi this camp as a leader? Is there a big noticeable difference in how he’s carrying himself?) – “Yes, you see Jay out there just trying to lead by example. You hear him a little bit more; he’s a little bit more vocal. It’s great for us as an offense. We’ve got so many young guys that can do big things for this offense. Just for us to be out there and picking each other up all the time is pretty big for all of us.”

(To have a year of this offense under your belt, for all of you, how does that change your familiarity with it?) – “We’re just more comfortable and we’re playing faster and we’re having fun. When you’re not thinking as much, you’re out there just playing ball, so we’re seeing that for the offense.”

(How much confidence does it give the offense as whole just to have a guy coming off a historic season like RB Jay Ajayi out there taking care of the running game?) – “We know at every position that we’ve got guys that can make plays. The offensive line started making those big holes for Jay last year and it started opening up the passing game for us. We know we can all play off of each other; so yes, it’s exciting for us. We just continue to push each other to get better and we want to build off of what we did last year.”

(Is RB Jay Ajayi the type of guy that can do better than what he did last year?) – “You can always improve. At every position we can improve, so I guess we’ll see.”

(Usually there’s a lot of turnover. It seems on offense there’s a couple new pieces but not a lot of change. How does that help having so many familiar faces back?) – “The continuity on our offense, you can tell. You don’t see any mistakes made. We’re comfortable in this offense. The new pieces are coming in and they’re helping us. Like I said, we’re having fun and we’re thinking less.”