It didn’t take long for running back Jay Ajayi to show why the Eagles made a move to acquire him from the Dolphins before last Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Ajayi saw action in the first half and then put an exclamation mark on the team’s work in the first 30 minutes with a 46-yard run that saw him go airborne to get into the end zone. The touchdown made the score 31-9 Eagles at halftime of what would wind up as a 51-23 win and represented the biggest of Ajayi’s eight carries for 77 yards.
After the game, Ajayi called the atmosphere in Philly “electric” and sounded excited about playing behind the team’s offensive line.
“Special offensive line,” Ajayi said in comments distributed by the team. “Definitely believe we can do a lot of special things here. Great running back room and glad to be part of the dynamic that we have in there. I mean look, that’s a great defense that we just ran on. We put 200 yards on that team over there. So I think you have to tip your hat to all of us that ran the ball today. I think we all did some special things out there.”
The Eagles are off in Week 10, which gives them a chance to further integrate Ajayi into the offense before they return for a push to the playoffs that’s in great shape after eight wins in the first nine weeks. Ajayi was only part of one of those victories, but Sunday’s performance did little to suggest it will be the last.