Dolphins 2021 Week 4 Snap Counts ... And What They Mean
One snap too many for Jakeem Grant? Less is more for Jaelan Phillips? Why was Myles missing?
As we break down the Miami Dolphins snap counts for the game against the Indianapolis Colts, those are among the most pertinent questions that come up.
We can start with Grant, who ended up playing only one snap on offense, you know, the one that resulted in a 7-yard loss when the Dolphins ran a jet sweep with him.
Maybe the Colts smelled something was up when he came into the game early in the third quarter after not playing on offense in the first half.
As expected, it was DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle who got the bulk of the work at wide receiver with 47 and 41 of the 52 offensive snaps, respectively.
Will Fuller V obviously would have played more snaps, but his day ended when he left the game with a hand injury early in the second quarter.
A week after being inactive, Albert Wilson played 25 snaps (48 percent of the offensive plays), though he was targeted only twice.
By all measures, Phillips had the most impactful outing of his young NFL career (even with the bogus facemask penalty that was called on him) and it came on a day when his snap count dropped by 20 from the previous week at Las Vegas.
Phillips got 29 defensive snaps against the Colts and ended up with half a sack and three quarterback hits.
And then there was the curious case of Gaskin, who played a mere 12 snaps against the Colts. The suspicion is that it's related to his struggles in pass protection, but it's still strange considering he's the best running back on the roster.
The snap count was Gaskin's lowest going back to his rookie season when he arrived as a seventh-round draft pick. His previous lowest total over the past two seasons was the 29 snaps he got in the season opener against the New England Patriots this year.
Some of the playing time yo-yo'ing continued in the secondary, and this time it was Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland who saw their snap count go way down.
Jones got only two snaps on defense against the Colts one week after he had some issues in coverage against the Raiders, though it should be pointed out the Indy passing game is nowhere near as good as that of the Raiders.
Holland, the rookie second-round pick from Oregon, played a season-low 19 snaps against the Colts, down from 50 and 42 the previous two games.
On the flip side, veteran Jason McCourty played all but of the 71 defensive snaps — one week after playing 49 percent of the snaps against the Raiders.
The three active players who did not get a snap against the Colts were backup quarterback Reid Sinnett and offensive linemen Robert Jones and Cameron Tom, who was elevated from the practice squad Saturday.
Four more position players didn't get a snap on offense or defense — Clayton Fejedelem, Duke Riley, Elijah Campbell and Solomon Kindley.
Along with Brandon Jones, other position players who got less than 10 snaps on offense or defense were Grant (1), tight end Cethan Carter (1), wide receiver Mack Hollins (2) and running back Salvon Ahmed (5).
