Miami Dolphins Week 9 Snap Counts ... And What They Mean

Breaking down who played how many snaps for the Miami Dolphins in the game against the Arizona Cardinals and what it means in the big picture

The big snap count stories coming out of the Miami Dolphins victory against the Arizona Cardinals involve the offensive line and the running back position.

At running back, veteran Jordan Howard made his first start since Week 2 in his return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for three games, but it ended up being rookie Salvon Ahmed who got the biggest work load at the position.

Ahmed, who was promoted from the practice squad earlier this season, made his NFL debut and ended up playing 28 snaps on offense. Ahmed earned the playing time by showing a nice burst and finished with 38 yards on seven carries with a long gain of 19 yards.

Howard finished with 21 snaps and Patrick Laird played 12.

On the offensive line, the Dolphins started the game with the same lineup from the previous three games but eventually made a switch to a grouping they hadn't used before this season.

After beginning the game at left tackle, Jesse Davis moved to right guard to replace Solomon Kindley, who played 15 snaps.

Austin Jackson, who started the first four games before going on IR, retook his spot at left tackle and played 46 of the 61 offensive snaps.

Rookie second-round pick Robert Hunt played the entire game at right tackle.

Wide receiver DeVante Parker played 55 snaps against Arizona after playing only 29 against the Los Angeles Rams, with Jakeem Grant getting the second-most snaps at the position with 29.

That was a result of the foot injury that sidelined Preston Williams after he scored his first-half touchdown.

With Williams out of the game, Mack Hollins played a season-high 17 offensive snaps. His previous high had been 10 in the victory against the San Francisco 49ers.

On defense, it's interesting to note that five players were on the field for all 69 snaps: Byron Jones, Xavien Howard, Eric Rowe, Bobby McCain and Kyle Van Noy.

It's particularly noteworthy when it comes to McCain, who walked off the field with trainers with an apparent knee injury on Kyler Murray's touchdown run in the third quarter.

Emmanuel Ogbah and Christian Wilkins played 78 and 75 percent of the defensive snaps, a pretty high percentage for defensive linemen.

At linebacker, Elandon Roberts played a season-high 50 snaps, topping the 40 he got in the season opener against his former team, the New England Patriots.

Along with Ahmed, two other Dolphins players made their NFL debut. After being inactive for the first seven games, rookie fifth-round pick Jason Strowbridge played 12 snaps on defense. Wide receiver Kirk Merritt, elevated from the practice squad Saturday, played one snap on offense along with seven snaps on special teams.