DAVIE, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins' Adam Gase is proving to be stern but fair in his first year as head coach.

Running back Jay Ajayi became the first player of record to find himself in Gase's doghouse. The coaching staff wasn’t happy with the way Ajayi handled the fourth preseason game where he fumbled and dropped a pass in limited playing time. Something also happened during the course of last week's preparation to cause Gase to keep Ajayi in South Florida while the rest of the team traveled to Seattle.

According to Gase, the running back now has a clean slate entering Week 2.

“We’re back to basically [where] he’s back in meetings, he’s back in the building,” Gase said. “We left him back. That was my decision and we’ve cleaned that up. We’ll move past that and basically this is a new day for him today.”

Ajayi was briefly in the locker room Monday but declined to speak to reporters. Last year Ajayi rushed for 187 yards and had hopes of becoming Miami’s feature back this season. He lost the job to veteran running back Arian Foster. However, there is still a role for Ajayi if he earns back the trust of the coaches.

Here are some other notes on Miami:

• Receiver DeVante Parker, who has a hamstring injury, says he’s close to returning and he's hopeful he'll be available for Sunday’s game against New England. Parker made the trip to Seattle and worked out before the game. But Parker and the team decided to play it safe and let Parker sit another week.

• Defensive end Mario Williams is still in concussion protocol, and his status remains up in the air for Sunday’s game. There are guidelines Williams must go through to return to the field. If Williams doesn’t play, backup Cameron Wake, who played in pass-rush situations, could see more playing time.

• The Dolphins continued their struggles on third down. They were 3 of 13 (23 percent) on third-down conversions and also failed on one fourth-down conversion. This is an area Miami has struggled in for years and must improve to win future games.