Dolphins 2023 Week 6 Snap Count Observations

Cedrick Wilson Jr., Jaelan Phillips and Justin Bethel were ere among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against Carolina, while Cam Smith made his first appearance on defense

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 42-21 victory against the Carolina Panthers at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

-- As a reminder, the inactives were C Connor Williams (groin), CB Kelvin Joseph, TE Tyler Kroft newcomer Chase Claypool and DT Brandon Pili, with Skylar Thompson again serving as the third (emergency) quarterback in the event both Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White had gotten injured.

-- There were two players who were active but did not play: OL Robert Jones and T Kion Smith.

-- Only two position players saw their only action on special teams: LB Channing Tindall and G Lester Cotton.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- Despite the convincing victory, the Dolphins offense ended up again having fewer offensive plays, this time by a margin of 69-67.

-- What really stands out on offense is how well spread out the playing time was among the skill position players.

-- For example, backup wide receivers Robbie Chosen, Braxton Berrios and Cedrick Wilson Jr. all played between 17 and 25 snaps, though it is noteworthy that it was Wilson who had the 25 snaps. That's likely a nod to his blocking ability in the running game.

-- The Dolphins, as usual, often used two tight ends and that led to Durham Smythe playing 44 snaps and rookie free agent Julian Hill playing 31. Even Tanner Conner got 10 snaps at the end of the game after being elevated from the practice squad Saturday.

-- At running back, the playing time was split about how we should have expected in the absence of rookie sensation De'Von Achane, with Raheem Mostert getting the most snaps with 41, followed by Salvon Ahmed with 24. Chris Brooks got fourth-quarter snaps and ended up with 11 offensive plays before he left the game with an ankle injury.

-- For those keeping score, Tua Tagovailoa played 56 snaps at quarterback before Mike White took over in the fourth quarter with the victory well in hand. White ended up playing 11 snaps.

DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- Nobody played all 69 defensive snaps for the Dolphins, with Jevon Holland, Eli Apple, DeShon Elliott and Kader Kohou coming closest at 65 snaps.

-- Xavien Howard played 56 snaps before leaving the game in the second half with a groin injury.

-- Jaelan Phillips returned to the lineup after missing two games with an oblique injury and played a modest 30 defensive snaps as part of an edge defender rotation with Bradley Chubb and Andrew Van Ginkel.

-- Van Ginkel also got snaps at inside linebacker and ended up with 42 total snaps on defense.

-- While Apple again handled the outside cornerback role opposite Howard in nickel packages, Parry Nickerson took over for Justin Bethel as the dime defensive back, playing 20 snaps on defense to Bethel's two.

-- We finally had a Cam Smith sighting on defense, though it was only four snaps in garbage time. Whether this leads to further action in upcoming weeks remains questionable.

-- David Long Jr. got the most snaps among the off-the-ball linebackers with 51, four more than Jerome Baker.

-- Among backups who got a decent amount of snaps on defense were Emmanuel Ogbah (22), Duke Riley (22) and Da'Shawn Hand (20).

-- We close with the special teams, where Riley led the way in snaps with 24 followed by Elijah Campbell with 23 and Cameron Goode with 22. The offensive player with the most special teams snaps again was Smythe with 14, followed by Conner with 13.

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