Eagles vs. Steelers snap counts: Zach Ertz failing to produce

It’s time to break down the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their Week 5 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

OFFENSE

• Jordan Mailata seemed to play relatively well again in his second NFL start.
• Zach Ertz has played 115 snaps in the Eagles’ last two games. He has five receptions for 15 yards. Just not good enough. It’s not like he’s lacked opportunity with Dallas Goedert being out.
• Miles Sanders only saw 13 total touches despite playing 50 snaps. Ideally would like to see him more involved.
• John Hightower led all Eagles receivers in snaps for the third week in a row. His stats from those three games: six receptions for 59 yards. Ideally, his playing time needs to come down.
• Travis Fulgham was obviously a total beast against the Steelers. Play him even more!
• Lane Johnson had to get carted off due to his nagging ankle injury. Seems like it’s going to be an issue all season.
• Jack Driscoll seemed to well relatively well in relief of Johnson.
• J.J. Arcega-Whiteside barely played. Wonder if the Eagles might just move on from him if/when DeSean Jackson and/or Alshon Jeffery get healthy? There will be some interesting decisions to make at wide receiver. One thing’s for sure: Fulgham needs to be on the field.
• Quez Watkins saw a small role in his first NFL game.
• The Eagles aren’t really getting anything out of running backs behind Sanders.
• Jason Croom played two snaps in his Eagles debut. Third tight end.
• Jalen Hurts played two snaps. He completed his first NFL pass attempt for 18 yards to Richard Rodgers. That play was interesting because Jason Kelce was flexed out wide along with Carson Wentz to make it look like a potential double pass. His other snap was a play where he ran in motion as the Eagles executed a quarterback sneak with Wentz. So, just a decoy on that play.

DEFENSE

• Nathan Gerry is playing much more than anyone wants to see.
• Rodney McLeod still hasn’t missed a snap this year. Taking up the Malcolm Jenkins mantle.
• Darius Slay missed a chunk of snaps due to injury.
• Duke Riley filled up the stat sheet by leading the Eagles in tackles with 13. He logged a tackle for loss and a forced fumble with his big hit on Eric Ebron. Riley had to get carted off after laying the wood on that play.
• Marcus Epps had a real bad missed tackle on one of Chase Claypool’s four touchdowns.
• Fletcher Cox is up to 1.5 sacks in five games this season.
• Javon Hargrave logged half a sack and one quarterback hit against his former team.
• Another week where the Eagles almost evenly split playing time between Cre’Von LeBlanc and Nickell Robey-Coleman.
• Alex Singleton predictably saw a bigger role in the defense with T.J. Edwards hurt.
• Josh Sweat’s playing time has decreased each week ... except for this week, where it was the same percentage as Week 4.
• Craig James played outside cornerback when Slay had to leave the game due to injury.
• The coaching staff clearly has limited trust in rookies K’Von Wallace and Shaun Bradley.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Elijah Riley saw a decent amount of special teams work after being elevated from the practice squad.
• Davion Taylor has yet to log a single defensive snap this year despite the Eagles’ linebacker struggles.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Avonte Maddox, Jason Huntley, Hakeem Butler, Nate Sudfeld, Casey Toohill

ACTIVE: Jamon Brown

• Jeffery and/or Jackson might be able to return in Week 6.
• Huntley, Butler, and Toohill are essentially glorified practice squad members. Eagles are stashing them at the bottom of their roster.
• Do the Eagles really need to be spending a roster spot on Sudfeld?