Miami Dolphins Snap Conclusions from loss at Jets
Teddy Bridgewater played only one snap for the Dolphins in a 40-17 loss at the Jets on Sunday.
Rookie seventh-rounder Skylar Thompson played 66. Thompson's NFL debut went about as one might expect, finishing with a passer rating of 58.4.
It will be interesting to see if and when Tua Tagovailoa and/or Teddy Bridgewater are cleared to return to play and practice after they were removed from consecutive games due to concussion protocols.
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D'Angelo on SKylar: Thompson had "rough" game, but he'll look to build on it
The Dolphins' defense needs to be better and fast. Despite injuries to Xavien Howard, Byron Jones, Terron Armstead and others, Miami coach Mike McDaniel cannot allow his team to unravel only six weeks into a 17-week slog.
Here are some snap counts that jumped out from Sunday's box score:
LT Brandon Shell (59 snaps, 88 percent) — The Dolphins elevated Shell to the roster just before this game, in case of emergency. Well, after only eight snaps by Pro Bowler Terron Armstead, emergency mode kicked in. Shell and right tackle Greg Little allowed a total of seven pressures, according to PFF. Miami can hope and pray tArmstead's toe injury, to be checked out as soon as Monday in New York, is not much worse. And they can hope and pray that Austin Jackson returns from an ankle injury as early as this week.
RB Chase Edmonds (10 snaps, 15 percent) — Edmonds has a $5.5 million cap hit this season and Raheem Mostert has a cap hit of $1.9 million. But at the moment, Mostert has moved ahead of Edmonds, who is still trying to adjust to Miami's outside zone run scheme. Mostert topped 100 yards for the Dolphins on Sunday. Edmonds is averaging only 3.0 yards per attempt and has caught only 8 of 13 targets this season.
CB Noah Igbinoghene (31 snaps, 53 percent) — Igbinoghene played defensive snaps for the first time this season. According to PFF he allowed 1 catch on 3 targets for 17 yards. There did a appear to be a few times where Igbinoghene was involved in a productive offensive play by the Jets but it was not a disastrous performance by the former first-rounder. If Igbinoghene can gain confidence and sharpen his techniques to where he's at least serviceable fifth corner, that's better than nothing.
WR Trent Sherfield (44 snaps, 66 percent) — Sherfield is a committed blocker and so that's a big part of the reason why he's been getting a lot of snaps. In fact, Sherfield had one snap more than Tyreek Hill, who was working through quad and foot injuries. Sherfield did also play more than Cedrick Wilson, who has ribs and toe injuries but was a full participant in practice this week.
TE Mike Gesicki (36 snaps, 54 percent) — Gesicki has seen an increase in snap counts in each of the last two weeks. But he is averaging only 20.2 yards per game for the season. There appeared to be at least one block attempt that did not go particularly well. It's going to be interesting to see if Miami is willing to trade Gesicki later this month, more than anything as a courtesy to Gesicki, who clearly does not fit in this offensive scheme.
Joe Schad is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins Snap Conclusions on Mike Gesicki and Chase Edmonds
