Miami Dolphins 2026 Week 4 Snap Counts Stories: (Overly) Busy Day for the Defense

What stood out regarding play counts in the Miami Dolphins' 15-10 loss against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday:

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

The only Dolphins players who were active but did not play were backup quarterback Kyle McCord, offensive lineman Andrew Meyer and running back Carlos Washington Jr., who was signed to the 53-man roster off the practice squad Saturday.

Since we've been keeping track every game, the starting lineup was back to seven rookies after tight end Will Kacmarek joined Week 3 starters Chris Bell at wide receiver, fullback DJ Herman, guard Kadyn Proctor, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, cornerback Chris Johnson and safety Michael Taaffe.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- What stands out here is the ridiculously low number of offensive snaps the Dolphins got, which was 39. That was exactly half the number of plays run by the Minnesota offense.

-- Jaylen Wright got the start at running back with De'Von Achane on IR with a torn ACL, but he quickly gave way to Ollie Gordon II, who ended up with a 22-12 snap advantage and clearly established himself as the current RB1 after rushing for exactly 100 yards.

-- For the first time this season, Kacmarek got more snaps at tight end than Greg Dulcich, with 24 compared to 20.

-- Veteran Jalen Tolbert was active for the second time, but he again barely was a factor on offense as he played only six snaps, two more than special teams specialist Ryan Miller. The Dolphins did use three wide receivers at the same time quite a bit, but this is where we point out that Malik Washington is more like a utility player on offense — a halfback/receiver, if you will — than a pure wide receiver.

-- The Dolphins used a sixth offensive lineman again, though this time it was only one snap for Caedan Wallace.

DOLPHINS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- Four players were on the field for all of Miami's 78 defensive snaps: linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Jordyn Brooks, Taaffe and Johnson.

-- This not surprisingly was a season/career high for the three rookies. The previous high for both Rodriguez and Johnson came in the season opener when both played all 68 snaps against the Las Vegas Raiders. Taaffe's previous high was 52 snaps against Kansas City. It was the second-highest total of Brooks' career, topped only by his 81 snaps for the Seattle Seahawks in a 33-13 victory against the Houston Texans in 2021, his second year in the NFL.

-- The Dolphins opened the game in the nickel and played most of the game with that five-DB alignment. JuJu Brents got 69 snaps at cornerback and Jason Marshall Jr. got 60.

-- Dante Trader Jr. again started at safety alongside Taaffe, but he left the game with a knee injury before returning, and Zayne Anderson wound up playing 29 snaps in Trader's place.

-- On the defensive line, what stood out was Josh Uche, who was very active, getting the most snaps on the edge with 55, five more than Chop Robinson, who also had his moments rushing quarterback Kyler Murray.

-- Practice squad elevations Rodney McGraw and Mazi Smith played 12 and nine defensive snaps, respectively, and each made a play or two, McGraw as a pass rusher and Smith getting penetration on a run that led to a tackle for loss.

-- Eight non-specialists saw action only on special teams — Seydou Traore, Andre Jones Jr., Jackson Woodard, Julius Wood, Jaylin Simpson, Jarrett Kingston, Reece Taylor, and newcomer Shaka Heyward.

-- Speaking of special teams, Traore again led the way with 23 snaps, followed by 18 for Miller, Wood and Heyward, who was signed off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad last week.

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