Dolphins 2022 Week 5 Snap Count Observations

Raheem Mostert, Mike Gesicki and Christian Wilkins were among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against the New York Jets

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 40-17 loss against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon:

-- As a reminder, the inactives were QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Erik Ezukanma, CB Xavien Howard, RB Salvon Ahmed, TE Hunter Long and LB Trey Flowers. Tagovailoa (concussion), Howard (groins) and Ahmed (back) all were on the injury report heading into the game.

-- The only player who was active but did not seen any action was offensive lineman Robert Jones.

-- Five position players saw their only action on special teams: DB Justin Bethel, DB Clayton Fejedelem, CB Keion Crossen, CB Elijah Campbell and C/G Michael Deiter. Fejedelem made his first appearance of the 2022 season after being activated off injured reserve Saturday.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- What obviously stands out here is the one snap for QB Teddy Bridgewater in his first start for the Dolphins, and we don't need to get into all the circumstances surrounding his exit from the game. We'd also be curious to find out the last time any quarterback left a game after only one snap.

-- Any shred of doubt about Raheem Mostert now clearly being the solid No 1 back should be over by now after he got 46 of the 67 offensive snaps (69 percent). Maybe more significant at running back, Myles Gaskin not only got his first snaps on offense this season, he got more playing time on offense than Chase Edmonds (13 snaps to 10). Edmonds dropped two passes against the Jets, following a drop in the end zone at Cincinnati, so maybe head coach Mike McDaniel lost patience with him. Gaskin had been inactive the previous three games because Ahmed served as the third running back.

-- At wide receiver, what stood out is Trent Sherfield getting way more snaps than pricier offseason acquisition Cedrick Wilson Jr. (44-16), though that perhaps might have something to do with Wilson being back after missing a game with injuries. But it's also fair to point out that Wilson's contributions so far this season have been pretty minimal.

-- Finally on offense, we close with the tight ends, where Mike Gesicki outsnapped Durham Smythe (36-33) for a change, though it should be pointed out that Smythe left the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury. Gesicki, however, was targeted only twice, maintaining his shockingly low average of two targets per game.

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DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- With Howard having to miss the game, there was some question as to how the Dolphins would replace him is the answer ended up being rookie free agent Kader Kohou. He ended up being one of four defensive players on the field for every defensive snap, along with FS Jevon Holland, fellow CB Nik Needham and LB Jerome Baker.

-- Needham playing every snap certainly wasn't surprising, but Kohou getting every snap was an eye-opener, especially when considering that Keion Crossen didn't play at all on defense. Crossen did have to deal with an injury during the week, but he end up with 18 snaps on special teams.

-- Also at cornerback, 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene finally got on the field on defense, playing 31 of the 59 defensive snaps (53 percent). It was his first time getting snaps on defense, though his play probably didn't warrant any additional work unless injuries are a factor.

-- Also getting snaps on defense for the first time this season was rookie third-round pick Channing Tindall, though his work on defense was limited to two snaps (along with nine snaps on special teams). Where this goes from here is unknown because the sample size was too small to reach any conclusions.

-- Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel started ahead of Jaelan Phillips in this game, but he still ended up with a very limited snap count on defense with 19 (along with 23 on special teams). Phillips played 33 percent of the defensive snaps.

-- On the defensive line, the snaps were pretty evenly divided behind Christian Wilkins' group-leading 50 snaps, with Raekwon Davis, Emmanuel Ogbah and Zach Sieler all getting between 38 and 40 snaps.

-- We close with the special teams, which were dominated in terms of snap counts by Bethel (23), Duke Riley (25),  Van Ginkel and Fejedelem (23). Elijah Campbell's special teams work load appeared to be the one most affected by Fejedelem's return, as he went from 21 to nine snaps from the Cincinnati game to the Jets game. Among the offensive position players, Sherfield had the most special teams snaps with 16.