Why the Game Plan Should Change with Willie Gay

One of the best performers in Miami Dolphins training camp ended up being used very little in the season opener

Miami Dolphins linebacker Willie Gay (40) reacts while stretching during training camp at Baptist Health Training Complex. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

After putting on an impressive performance throughout Miami Dolphins training camp, linebacker Willie Gay Jr. wound up being limited to special teams in the team's season opener.

This was not the plan, says defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who's going to make sure it doesn't happen in the home opener against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

"I've got to find a way to get Willie on the field," Weaver said during his weekly media session Thursday morning. "And I told him that the next day. There was a plan, certainly, to get him in the game. Plans change, right? There's some chaos there for a little bit. But I need to get him in. He's impactful. He's earned the right to get on the field. So I've got to make that happen."

All four linebackers on the Dolphins' 53-man roster were active for the Week 1 loss against the Indianapolis Colts, but Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson played all 73 snaps on defense while Gay and K.J. Britt saw action only on special teams.

While Brooks and Dodson led the team with 14 and 13 tackles, respectively, neither was particularly impactful and it's not like the defense couldn't have used something else on a day when the Colts never punted and scored on all of their seven possessions — though, admittedly, one drive was kept alive by the running-into-the-kicker penalty against Matthew Judon.

This was the fourth time in Gay's career he played only on special teams. It happened once during his rookie season with the Kansas City Chiefs and twice last year during his first and only season with the New Orleans Saints.

Gay's performance in training camp this summer was impressive enough that some media members jokingly discussed starting a campaign for him to get the orange jersey as the practice player of the day.

Gay did some great work as a pass rusher and getting his hands on the ball in coverage. He had half a sack and a tackle for loss during the preseason.

Beyond the playmaking ability he can provide, Gay also is somebody who brings the energy — this is a universal comment from his teammates — and it's certainly something the Dolphins could have used against the Colts.