Breaking Down the Miami Dolphins 2026 Week 2 Snap Counts

What stood out regarding play counts in the Miami Dolphins' 35-13 loss against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday:

We'll start with the list of inactives, where the biggest news again involved veteran wide receiver Jalen Tolbert being a healthy scratch. Edge Chop Robinson also was inactive because of the concussion he sustained in practice during the week.

The only Dolphins player who was active but did not play was backup quarterback Kyle McCord.

Five players saw action only on special teams: Seydou Traore, Jarrett Kingston, Andrew Meyer, Jaylin Simpson and Reese Taylor.

The starting lineup featured seven rookies this time, with fullback DJ Herman joining Week 1 starters Kadyn Proctor, Caleb Douglas, Will Kacmarek, Jacob Rodriguez, Chris Johnson and Michael Taaffe.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- What stands out here is that the player outside of quarterback Malik Willis and the five offensive linemen who played the most snaps on offense was Douglas, who was on the field for 51 of the 59 snaps but missed the end of the game with an ankle injury. The severity of the injury wasn't known right after the game.

-- On the flip side, it was again a modest work load for fellow rookie wide receiver Chris Bell, who got 24 snaps on offense along with three on special teams. The feeling from here is that if it's concerns over Bell's surgically repaired knee that's limiting his offensive snaps, then he shouldn't be on the field covering punts. There could be a playbook issue as well, since Bell got such a late start in training camp.

-- The Dolphins used an extra lineman on three snaps against the 49ers after doing it once against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1 and it again was Caedan Wallace who got the call.

-- Greg Dulcich and Will Kacmarek again split all the snaps at tight end, sometimes both of them on the field at the same time, and it again was Dulcich who got a bit more work.

-- At running back, De'Von Achance obviously got the bulk of the work, but this time Ollie Gordon II got 11 snaps after Jaylen Wright left the game with a stinger. Gordon and Wright each played only four snaps in the opener.

-- For those wondering about Ryan Miller, his 77-yard touchdown came on one of his seven offensive snaps (he also played 14 on special teams).

DOLPHINS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- No player was on the field for all of the Dolphins' 52 defensive snaps, with cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. coming the closest with 49.

-- Marshall clearly is ahead of JuJu Brents on the depth chart, with Brents playing 32.

-- Elsewhere in the secondary, Dante Trader Jr. got the start in this one after Zayne Anderson started against Las Vegas and the three-player rotation wasn't nearly as even this time. Michael Taaffe played 44 snaps at safety, Trader got 40 and Anderson only 13. Head coach Jeff Hafley has said he's going to use all three extensively, so it could be that the snap counts will change significantly in Week 3.

-- The Dolphins opened with a pure 4-3 alignment, with Willie Gay Jr. joining Jordyn Brooks and Jacob Rodriguez in the starting lineup. The Dolphins didn't play much nickel in this one, with Gay finishing with 32 defensive snaps behind the 48 and 44 for Rodriguez and Brooks.

-- Robert Beal Jr. got the start on the edge with Robinson out, but the Dolphins used a pretty even three-man rotation opposite Josh Uche with Malik Herring, Beal and practice squad elevation Clelin Ferrell.

-- Rookie seventh-round pick Max Llewellyn made his NFL debut after also being elevated from the practice squad, but he got only two snaps on defense along with three on special teams.

-- On the interior of the defensive line, the work load was spread pretty evenly between Zach Sieler, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers, but Keith Cooper Jr. lagged behind with only 10 snaps. That's to be expected because Cooper is the upstart of the group.

-- We close with special teams, where tight end Seydou Traore led the way with 21 snaps, followed by 16 each for Jackson Woodard and Julius Wood.

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