Miami Dolphins 2026 Week 3 Snap Counts Stories: Secondary Shake-Ups, Gordon's Busy Day

What stood out regarding play counts in the Miami Dolphins' 24-10 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday:

We'll start with the list of inactives, where the biggest news involved three players being out with injuries — Caleb Douglas, Robert Beal Jr. and Jaylen Wright.

For a second consecutive game, the only Dolphins player who was active but did not play was backup quarterback Kyle McCord.

Since we've been keeping track every game, the starting lineup featured six rookies this time, down from seven for the Week 2 game against the San Francisco 49ers. Chris Bell replaced Douglas at wide receiver and was joined in the starting lineup by fullback DJ Herman, Kadyn Proctor, Jacob Rodriguez, Chris Johnson and Michael Taaffe.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- What stands out here obviously was the injury that knocked De'Von Achane out of the game on the Dolphins' fifth offensive play from scrimmage, putting the burden on Ollie Gordon II as the only other active running on game day. With Achane out, Gordon wound up playing 61 of Miami's 73 offensive snaps, which dwarfed his previous career high of 22 snaps against the Washington Commanders in Madrid last season. In the first two games this season, Gordon had played a total of 15 offensive snaps.

-- It also was quite the work load for Bell, who played 52 snaps in his third NFL game after being on the injury report during the week with knee issues. That there appeared to be no issues during the game obviously was a major step for him in his comeback from his torn ACL.

-- Even though he was awfully quiet in terms of production, fellow rookie wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. also got an extended look against the Chiefs with 45 snaps, two more than in the previous two games combined. Coleman had only one catch for 3 yards on four targets Sunday.

-- Veteran Jalen Tolbert was active for the first time all season, but it became clearer on this day where he stands on the depth chart at wide receiver as he played only 12 offensive snaps, even fewer than special teams guru Ryan Miller. Tolbert was not targeted once during those 12 snaps.

-- Another player active for the first time this season was Justin Joly, but his work came exclusively on special teams, the same as fellow rookie tight end Seydou Traore. It again was mostly Greg Dulcich at tight end with a good dose of Will Kacmarek.

DOLPHINS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- For the second consecutive game, the Dolphins defense was on the field for 52 snaps, but this time five players never came off the field — Michael Taaffe, Chris Johnson, Dante Trader Jr., Jacob Rodriguez and Jordyn Brooks.

-- Yes, Taaffe and Trader playing every defensive snap meant Week 1 starter Zayne Anderson was not used on defense once against the Chiefs, his role limited to special teams. This follows the Week 2 game where Anderson's defensive snap count was greatly reduced from the season opener and indicates a final decision has been made regarding the safety spot and the rotation is done — at least for now.

-- Elsewhere in the secondary, it was noteworthy that Julius Wood started as the slot cornerback, with Johnson starting outside with Jason Marshall Jr.

-- Johnson did get snaps in the slot later in the game, with Wood playing only nine defensive snaps to go along with 11 on special teams.

-- Marshall and JuJu Brents played just about the same amount of snaps at cornerback, with 36 for Brents and 35 for Marshall.

-- Clelin Ferrell was in the lineup for a third time after a practice squad elevation and his usage suggests that maybe the Dolphins won't sign him to the active roster to use him again. Ferrell didn't play on special teams and got only eight snaps on defense, easily the fewest of the four active edge defenders — Chop Robinson played 37 snaps in his return, Josh Uche got 36 and Malik Herring got 19.

-- On the interior of the defensive line, Zach Sieler again dominated the snaps, but Jordan Phillips got a significant bigger work load than Zeek Biggers this time, with 35 snaps compared to 25. For those wondering about training camp surprise Keith Cooper Jr., he's still seldom used, playing only four defensive snaps against the Chiefs.

-- An unusually high 10 non-specialists saw action only on special teams — Liam Anderson, Zayne Anderson, Seydou Traore, Andre Jones Jr., Jackson Woodard, Jaylin Simpson, Jarrett Kingston, Andrew Meyer, Reece Taylor, and Joly.

-- Speaking of special teams, Traore again led the way with 21 snaps, followed by 14 for newcomer Andre Jones Jr., who was signed off the Buffalo Bills practice squad last week.

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