Eagles-Dolphins snap counts: Notes on Julio Jones, Jordan Davis, Kenny Gainwell and others

The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 7 win over the Miami Dolphins are in! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.

OFFENSE

• The Eagles are always happy to see Jalen Hurts and the offensive line make it through the entire game. Especially impressive that Lane Johnson was able to suit up after suffering what originally seemed to be a more serious injury.
• DeVonta Smith saw 10 fewer targets than A.J. Brown despite playing 10 more snaps.
• Brown played his lowest snap count percentage in part due to getting a cut on his face tended to.
• This was Dallas Goedert’s second-lowest snap count percentage of the season, only ahead of last week where he missed the last drive due to injury. Despite this, Goedert had his second-most receiving yards this year with 77.
• Olamide Zaccheaus was WR3 despite the Eagles signing Julio Jones. But they both saw one target with only Jones catching his ... for a three-yard gain that drew cheers from the Philly faithful. I’d expect Jones’ playing time to go up with OZ’s to drop a little bit moving forward.
• Kenny Gainwell played his lowest snap counter percentage of the season ... but he’s only had more touches in two games this year. He did a nice job on his touchdown run but he still only finished with 16 yards on eight carries. The Eagles don’t really need to be giving him the ball as much as they are. Especially in high-leverage situations. Get Scott involved. Activate Rashaad Penny. Stop forcing Gainwell touches when the game is still undecided.

DEFENSE

• Zach Cunningham was the permanent linebacker next to the rotating green dot spot between Nakobe Dean and Nicholas Morrow. Cunningham hasn’t played 100% of a team’s defensive snaps since Week 12 of the 2021 season.
• Darius Slay was able to play the entire game after missing Week 6. He had a pretty big interception!
• Sydney Brown nearly played the entire game but Mekhi Garner briefly came in to play safety during the second quarter. Odd since Brown didn’t seem to be hurt; he was seen watching the defense from the sideline.
• Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick led all defensive linemen in playing time and made the most of their opportunities by being regularly disruptive.
• Dean and Morrow were closer to a 50/50 split last week. This week was a 60/40 split in Dean’s favor.
• Jordan Davis played his second-highest snap count percentage this week after setting a new career-high last week. He’s up to 197 defensive snaps this season. He only played 224 snaps as a rookie in 2022. The Eagles are justifiably trusting him to play more with how good he’s looking.
• Jalen Carter played his lowest snap count percentage by a significant margin. The Eagles may have been trying to take it easy on him in his first game back from a knee injury. Carter still looked pretty effective, logging one TFL and one QB hit. He caused Dolphins starting left guard Isaiah Wynn to get hurt by (legally) bowling him over.
• Josiah Scott and Eli Ricks rotated at nickel cornerback. Ricks had a big PBU on a fourth down throw to Tyreek Hill late in the game.
• Two of Brandon Graham’s three lowest snap count percentage games have come over the past two weeks.
• Nolan Smith was efficient in very limited playing time; the rookie notched his first career sack in addition to a TFL. That’s a start to earning more snaps.
• Derek Barnett failed to log a stat for the fifth time in seven games. Barnett still only has one sack and four QB hits over his last 16 games.
• I think the Eagles enjoy being very deep at defensive tackle. But I wonder if they might look to trade Marlon Tuipulotu or Kentavius Street ahead of the deadline? Doing so could free up a spot to get Moro Ojomo in a six-deep DT rotation.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Josh Jobe was relegated to special teams duty only after helping to fill in for Slay in Week 6.
• No good reason why Boston Scott can’t eat into Gainwell’s touches.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Reed Blankenship, Bradley Roby, Patrick Johnson, Moro Ojomo, Tanner McKee, Rashaad Penny, Albert Okwuegbunam

ACTIVE: Marcus Mariota

• There’s a chance that Blankenship and/or Roby might only miss one game. We’ll have to see what the injury report looks like this week.
• Johnson was a healthy scratch for the first time all season. As the third-string SAM linebacker option behind Haason Reddick and Nolan Smith, he’s yet to play a defensive snap this year.
• Penny’s name was mentioned in a recent trade rumors column over at The Athletic. But the sentiment was that the Eagles will NOT be looking to move him.