Jake Brendel has spent the past year laboring to earn respect, fighting to prove he’s worthy of playing on the Miami Dolphins’ offensive line.

That opportunity came in Sunday’s 20-17 win at Atlanta, when starting center Mike Pouncey suffered a concussion and Brendel, an undrafted player out of UCLA, filled in for the second half of the game.

Brendel, who worked his way up from the practice squad last season, played well and had a key role in Jay Ajayi’s two 18-yard runs on Miami’s final drive, which led to the game-winning 38-yard field goal from kicker Cody Parkey.

It was Brendel who broke open running lanes, making second-level blocks on the pair of runs that Ajayi made to put Miami in field-goal range.

“The NFL is a different animal. I’ve been waiting for this shot,” said Brendel, who handles the center workload during practice on Pouncey’s rest days, which usually are on Thursdays. “It was cool. I was a little rusty, but I got the rust off and got into the flow. The guys helped me out. It went well.”

Brendel’s teammates and coaches noticed the impact he had filling in for Pouncey, who must pass the NFL’s four-stage concussion protocol program to be cleared to play in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

“He played lights out,” starting right guard Jermon Bushrod said of Brendel. “He made the calls. He plays tough. We see what he brings to practice.

“That was Jake’s first real regular-season action and to do that against that team in that situation, that [is] a good story.”

Pouncey’s status is unknown because he must be cleared by an independent neurologist to return to practice. After at least one practice the neurologist will monitor his symptoms to determine if he’ll be cleared to play in a game. The process typically takes more than one week, but there have been cases — Mario Williams last year — where a player only needed a week to pass the NFL protocol program.

If Pouncey isn’t cleared to play on Sunday the Dolphins could give Brendel his first NFL start. But he’d have to earn it in practice, outperforming Anthony Steen, the other option at center.

Steen, who started seven games at center last season, has been starting at left guard this season. But the Dolphins could have Jesse Davis start at left guard and move Steen inside. Davis has more experience than Brendel because he spent the first three games of the season sharing the left guard snaps with Steen.

Coach Adam Gase is confident the job isn’t too big for Brendel.

“That’s what this game is about,” Gase said.”You’ve just got to go next man up and we expect that guy to play well.”

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