Exploring Dolphins’ No. 3 cornerback question. And personnel notes, grades, snap counts

A 10-pack of Dolphins notes on a Monday:

▪ The Dolphins’ No. 3 and No. 4 cornerback jobs remain something of an issue as Jalen Ramsey works his way back from knee surgery, with a November return now projected.

Eli Apple played 65 defensive snaps — as much as any Dolphins defensive player — against Carolina on Sunday and yielded four receptions on eight targets for 62 yards.

After benching Apple for two games, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has used him for nearly all defensive snaps the past two weeks, with mixed results.

In Apple’s defense, Pro Football Focus says he has a solid 82.2 passer rating in his coverage area. He has allowed 19 of 31 passes to be caught 216 yards (an 11.4 average) but hasn’t permitted a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Fangio opted for Parry Nickerson over Justin Bethel as the No. 4 cornerback Sunday, and Nickerson allowed three of five targets to be caught for 30 yards, on 20 defensive snaps. Bethel played two snaps late.

Fangio has a few other options:

1). Nik Needham, nearing a return from last October’s Achilles injury. Miami must activate him midway through next week for Needham to be eligible to play this season.

2). Rookie Cam Smith, who received his first NFL defensive snaps late in Sunday’s Carolina game; he was on defense for four plays.

3). Former Cowboys cornerback Kelvin Joseph, who was a healthy scratch Sunday.

There’s an added concern this week with Xavien Howard nursing a groin injury.

But the play of the No. 3 cornerback must improve, no matter who it is.

▪ Howard permitted five of six passes to be caught for 46 yards before departing with the groin issue, per PFF. Kader Kohou, who played every defensive snap, allowed three of five targets to be caught for 34 yards.

▪ At inside linebacker, David Long Jr. played more than Jerome Baker, 51 snaps to 47. Baker, under previous coordinator Josh Boyer, often played every or nearly all defensive snap. That has changed under Fangio in recent weeks; he played 68 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps on Sunday. Duke Riley played 22 snaps.

Long led Miami with 11 tackles.

▪ Linebacker Jaelan Phillips, returning from an oblique injury, played 30 snaps, compared with 42 for Andrew Van Ginkel (who started) and 49 for Bradley Chubb.

▪ Raekwon Davis again played less than half of Miami’s defensive snaps (28), with Emmanuel Ogbah logging 22 snaps and Da’Shawn Hand 20.

▪ When the game was competitive, Jevon Holland and DeShon Elliott got all the snaps at safety. Backups Brandon Jones and Elijah Campbell played four snaps late.

▪ Pro Football Focus’ five highest-rated Dolphins players on defense against Carolina (minimum 20 snaps): Chubb, Hand, Van Ginkel, Christian Wilkins and Baker.

▪ PFF’s five highest-graded Dolphins players on offense against Carolina (minimum 20 snaps): Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle and Braxton Berrios.

▪ At receiver, snaps were distributed this way: Waddle 46, Hill 38, Cedrick Wilson Jr. 25, Berrios 20, Robbie Chosen 17…

At tight end, the Dolphins gave 44 snaps to Durham Smythe, 31 to Julian Hill and 10 to Tanner Conner (who was elevated)...

At running back, the breakdown was 41 for Mostert, 24 for Salvon Ahmed and 11 for Chris Brooks before an ankle injury led to Brooks being carted off. Brooks was undergoing an MRI on Monday.

▪ The offensive line continued its strong work, not allowing a sack and blocking effectively for a running game that averaged 4.9 yards per carry on Sunday.

Liam Eichenberg, filling in for Connor Williams at center, did not allow a sack or pressure in 33 pass blocking chances. Neither did right guard Robert Hunt.

Left guard Isaiah Wynn, right tackle Austin Jackson and left tackle Kendall Lamm permitted just one quarterback pressure.

▪ Quick stuff: The Dolphins’ 15-2 home stretch is its best since Hard Rock Stadium opened in 1987… Tagovailoa is the NFL’s only quarterback with a 90-plus passer rating in all six games this season… Wilkins had two sacks in a game for the first time in his career… The Dolphins’ 2992 yards are the second most through six games, in NFL history, behind only the 2000 St. Louis Rams, who had 3,056.