DAVIE, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins practice began Monday with first-team running back Jay Ajayi on the sideline, riding a stationary bike and making it harder for the teams ground game to get rolling.Ajayi was held out of the first workout in full pads because of knee trouble, an issue that hurt his draft status in 2015. He and the Dolphins said the latest injury isnt serious, but his absence comes at a position already filled with uncertainty.The more you can keep that group working together, the better, coach Adam Gase said. But this is the NFL, right? This is what happens. Next man up.Not quite ready to be the next man up is four-time Pro Bowler Arian Foster, making a comeback from Achilles tendon surgery last fall. Foster signed with Miami last month and was cleared to join practice Sunday, but the Dolphins plan to phase him in slowly.Among the other running backs, Damien Williams reported out of shape and has yet to practice, and Isaiah Pead limped off the field midway through Mondays drills. Also contending for playing time are third-round draft pick Kenyan Drake and veteran Daniel Thomas.Ajayi said he suffered a bone bruise Sunday which caused swelling in his left knee. Gase noted it was Ajayis other knee that required surgery for a torn ACL in 2011, when he was at Boise State.I think he was worried it was more than what it was, Gase said. Thankfully its on the other leg.Even so, Ajayi joined Gases pals Peyton Manning and Wes Welker -- among others -- as a spectator at the workout.Ajayi said he expects to be back to normal in a couple of days, resuming his pursuit of the starting job as a successor to Lamar Miller, who departed via free agency during the offseason.Ajayi played in only nine games last season because of a rib injury, and rushed for 187 yards in 49 carries as Millers backup.Opportunities like this are very limited to be a starter in the NFL, Ajayi said. Im excited.He said hes more comfortable and confident than he was as a rookie.Last season I went through some ups and downs, he said, but I learned a lot.A fifth-round draft pick, Ajayi likely would have gone higher if not for lingering concerns about his right knee. He rushed for 3,796 yards and 50 touchdowns in college, and as a senior became the first player in FBS history to gain at least 1,800 yards rushing and 500 receiving in a season.First-year coach Gase was impressed by the 229-pound Ajayi in offseason drills and believes he could emerge as the biggest surprise of training camp.Or perhaps it will be Foster. Injuries limited him to 25 games in the past three years with the Houston Texans, and he played in just four games last season, averaging 2.6 yards per carry.But Foster said he feels healthier than 12 months ago. When he took the conditioning test at the start of camp, Gase received this appraisal of Foster from an assistant coach: He absolutely annihilated it.I think he was trying to prove a point to us, like, `Im ready to go, Gase said.Like Ajayi, Foster knows theres a job available.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wineAdidas NMD R1 Herr . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Adidas Yung 96 Svart . LOUIS -- St. http://www.nmdsverige.com/consortium-adidas-skor.html . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Adidas Superstar Dam Rea . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Adidas NMD R1 Herr Rea .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Beating Southeastern Conference teams has almost become routine for Middle Tennessee.Giddy Potts scored a season-high 27 points and MTSU won its third straight over an SEC opponent with a 71-48 win over Vanderbilt on Thursday night.MTSU (9-1) has won seven of its last 12 against the SEC, including a 77-62 win at Ole Miss on Nov. 30.I think the culture of our program is about toughness, MTSU coach Kermit Davis said. Not in an arrogant way at all, but I talk to our team a lot about trying to become a national program and weve been doing that for the last three or four or five years, and I think they look forward to these games.Middle Tennessee earned national attention with an upset of Michigan State in last seasons NCAA tournament.Potts made four 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds in the Blue Raiders seventh straight win.We just came out and played our game and really locked up on defense, Potts said. We played really hard on both sides of the ball.MTSUs Reggie Upshaw added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists going against 7-foot-1 Luke Kornet.Thats probably the biggest person Ive ever played against or one of them, said Upshaw, shaking his head. All week in practice coach Davis just kept telling us that he kind of struggles if you get him off his sweet spot and if you dont let him catch the ball too deep in the post.The Blue Raiders, ranked fifth in the RPI ratings, are off to their fourth-best start in school history and the best since opening 12-1 in 1980-81.Arkansas transfer JaCorey Williams had 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.Matthew Fisher-Davis led Vanderbilt (5-5) with 13 points and Jeff Roberson scored 11.The Commodores struggled offensively, hitting 32 percent from the floor on 17-of-53 shooting while being held to a season low in points against MTSUs 1-3-1 zone defense.We neveer really got that stretch in the second half where we could string together a couple of stops and a couple scores to ever get it close, Commodores coach Bryce Drew said.dddddddddddd And credit them. They continued to play good defense and continued to attack the rim on the other side.Two nights after breaking a school record with 19 3-pointers in a win over High Point, Vanderbilt made 5 of 19 from beyond the arc.MTSU went 7 of 24 from 3-point range.Its frustrating, Roberson said. We knew (for them to be) playing a home game theyd be making a lot of runs and stuff and it was on us to bounce back and we never really did that.BIG PICTUREVanderbilt: Still searching for consistency during the Commodores up-and-down start.Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders only blemish is a 74-63 loss to Tennessee State on Nov. 19 and Williams has given the team a big lift.GREAT TREATVanderbilts first-year coach Bryce Drew, a former Valparaiso coach, seemed surprised to inherit a road game at MTSU. I can tell you up North schedules like this dont happen very often, Drew said. Nobody would ever come into our gym in Valpo, never a Big 10 team. So this is a great treat for Middle Tennessee to get an SEC team in their building and credit them, they took full advantage of it and played a great game.SECOND-HALF SURGEVanderbilt trailed by eight early in the second half when Middle Tennessee made an 18-6 run to stretch its lead to 51-31 on Upshaws exclamation-point dunk with 12:52 left. The Commodores never got closer than 18 the rest of the way.UP NEXTVanderbilt takes a nine-day break before hosting Chattanooga on Dec. 17.Middle Tennessee visits Belmont, another Nashville team, on Wednesday before traveling to VCU on Dec. 17. ' ' '