Dolphins 2022 Week 9 Snap Count Observations

Jeff Wilson Jr., Bradley Chubb, Elandon Roberts and Trent Sherfield were among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against Chicago

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 35-32 victory against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

-- As a reminder, the inactives were RB Myles Gaskin, WR Erik Ezukanma, QB Skylar Thompson, T Austin Jackson and WR River Cracraft. Cracraft, who was ruled out with an illness, and Jackson, who was doubtful with his ankle injury, were the only two kept out of the game because of health issues.

-- The only players who were active but did not seen any action were quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and tackle Kion Smith, who was elevated from the practice squad Saturday.

-- Six position players saw their only action on special teams: CB Justin Bethel, S Clayton Fejedelem, TE Tanner Conner, RB Salvon Ahmed, T Greg Little and C Michael Deiter. Deiter is the only position player on the roster who has yet to play a non-special teams snap this season.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- What stands out here — and in a big way — is that newcomer Jeff Wilson Jr. not only got an equal role at running back with former 49ers teammate Raheem Mostert, he actually played one more snap (28-27). It isn't overly shocking, though, because Wilson obviously was very familiar with the Dolphins system when he arrived in the middle of the week so he could hit the ground running (pun intended).

-- The Dolphins hadn't had that kind of balance in recent weeks because Chase Edmonds' play had slipped and Mostert began dominating the snaps at running back. Expect a true 1A-1B situation moving forward.

-- Same story as usual at wide receiver, with Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill and Trent Sherfield dominating the snaps, and once again offseason acquisition Cedrick Wilson Jr. playing a much smaller role. The Dolphins went with four wide receivers against the Bears, as Erik Ezukanma once again was inactive.

-- The tight end snaps were split fairly evenly between Durham Smythe (33) and Mike Gesicki (28), and it was a bit surprising to see Gesicki go back to being a non-factor (one catch, 3 yards) after he had averaged four catches the previous three games.

-- Fullback Alec Ingold played 28 snaps on offense, marking the eighth time in nine games his snap count was in the 20s.

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DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- On defense, we'll start with the other trade acquisition, Bradley Chubb, who also got a full load in his Dolphins debut. Chubb played 54 snaps against the Bears, his third-highest total of the season.

-- For those wondering whose snaps Chubb would take, well, it wasn't Jaelan Phillips. The second-year player got 61 defensive snaps, his second-highest total of the season behind only the 62 he played against Buffalo in Week 3. Melvin Ingram played 27 snaps after getting a season-low 16 against Detroit, while Andrew Van Ginkel was down to 10 snaps on defense after playing between 20 and 25 the previous three games.

-- Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland were the two defensive players on the field for all 74 snaps, while Kader Kohou played 73 snaps while making a second consecutive start at cornerback.

-- With Chicago having such a run-oriented offense, it wasn't a surprise that linebacker Elandon Roberts set a new season high for snaps with 57, 10 more than his previous high (47 against Buffalo).

-- After being a healthy scratch against Detroit, Eric Rowe started at safety alongside Holland and played 57 snaps, his highest snap count of the season.

-- Rookie linebacker Channing Tindall got snaps on defense for the third time this season, though it again was a small amount. After playing two snaps against both the Jets and Vikings, Tindall played five snaps against the Bears serving as a spy on QB Justin Fields.

-- Up front, it was another busy day for Christian Wilkins (64 snaps) and Zach Sieler (57), but Emmanuel Ogbah played a season-low 25 snaps on defense, to go along with four on special teams. Again, this probably had to do with the style of offense the Dolphins were facing.

-- We close with the special teams, where Justin Bethel had the highest snap count with 20, followed by Elijah Campbell with 19, and Fejedelem and Sam Eguavoen with 18. It's also interesting to note that wide receiver Trent Sherfield, who usually leads offensive players in special teams snaps, was not used on any of the 26 snaps in the kicking game against the Bears.

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