Eagles vs. Jaguars snap count analysis: Josh Adams makes his case for more playing time

Here’s a breakdown of the snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ 24-18 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8 of the 2018 NFL season.

OFFENSE

Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks were the only two offensive linemen to play the entire game. Brooks stayed at right guard the entire time while Seumalo began at left guard and shifted out to right tackle when Lane Johnson went down.

Jason Kelce missed one snap after the first play of the game. Stefen Wisniewski came in to play center on that snap. Then Wis came back in to play at left guard with Seumalo shifting out to tackle.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai saw time at both left tackle and right tackle with both Jason Peters and Johnson leaving the game.

Good amount of 11 personnel (three wide receivers) this week with Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffery, and Jordan Matthews seeing a lot of playing time. Kudos to JMatt for having a strong performance. Agholor led Eagles receivers in targets with six. Jeffery and Matthews each saw five.

Wendell Smallwood continues to be the leader in running back snaps. He finished with eight carries for 24 yards (3.0 average) and two receptions for 42 yards and one receiving touchdown.

Despite the fact he played the most snaps of any running back, though, Smallwood did not lead the Eagles in carries. That distinction belongs to undrafted rookie Josh Adams, who had nine for 61 yards (6.8 average). Adams also had one reception for six yards, so he equaled Smallwood’s total 10 touches.

Corey Clement played five fewer snaps than Adams on Sunday. He also had five fewer touches than Adams. The second-year running back hasn’t been productive recently; Clement only has 12 yards on his last 12 carries (plus one fumble). After a promising rookie season, it’s disappointing to see Clement has struggled to produce. Is he going to fall out of the rotation entirely if/when Darren Sproles comes back?

Dallas Goedert saw a slight decrease in playing time from last week. The rookie tight end was only targeted once but he made it count with a 32-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.

Shelton Gibson did a nice job of blocking his defender on Smallwood’s touchdown reception. Making the most out of two snaps played.

DEFENSE

The Eagles’ coaching staff has shown a lot of trust in Avonte Maddox and the fourth-round rookie has rewarded their faith. Maddox made two huge plays in Sunday’s game with a third down tackle for loss and a forced fumble to set up the Eagles to take the lead. Maddox isn’t without his faults but on the whole it’s hard not to be impressed.

Dexter McDougle is still playing all of the Eagles’ nickel cornerback snaps. Hopefully Sidney Jones gets healthy soon.

Michael Bennett played the most snaps of any Eagles defensive lineman. He finished the game with one tackle, 0.5 sack, 0.5 tackle for loss, and two quarterback hits. Brandon Graham and Chris Long also saw their playing time increase with Derek Barnett out. Josh Sweat only played four defensive snaps. Instead of getting the rookie more involved, the Eagles just gave more playing time to the vets.

Rasul Douglas filled in for Jalen Mills after the Green Goblin had to be carted off the field. He allowed former practice squad tight end David Grinnage to beat him deep but he also made a nice pass breakup on a 3rd-and-1 at one point.

Haloti Ngata played 26 snaps in his first game back from a calf injury. His return allowed the Eagles to rely on Treyvon Hester and Bruce Hector a little less.

The Eagles didn’t use much base defense as seen with Kamu Grugier-Hill only playing six defensive snaps.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Undrafted rookie free agent Chandon Sullivan played two special teams snaps in his NFL debut.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Darren Sproles, Sidney Jones, Corey Graham, Nathan Gerry, Nate Sudfeld, Jordan Mailata, Matt Pryor

ACTIVE: Nick Foles