Eagles-Falcons Snap Counts: Bryce Huff played more … and somehow did even less

The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons are in. Let’s take a look and go through some analysis.

ATTACK

• Jordan Mailata hasn’t missed a snap since October 30, 2022. The Eagles pulled their starters late in this game with a big lead.
• Landon Dickerson looked a little banged up at times, but he didn’t miss a snap.
• This is actually the first time in DeVonta Smith’s career that he has played 100% of the snaps in back-to-back games. DeVonta led the Eagles with 10 targets, catching seven passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
• Despite missing only two snaps, Dallas Goedert was fourth on the team with just four targets. His three catches were for 38 yards. Why haven’t the Eagles been able to get him involved more often? Is he bad? Does Hurts just not want to throw to him? Are the coaches forgetting about him? What’s going on? How come Britain Covey gets two more targets than Goedert?
• After Saquon Barkley had 26 touches in Week 1, he had 26 again here. And he would have had 27 if he hadn’t dropped the pass at the end. Frankly, the Eagles didn’t use him enough considering how good he looked.
• Jahan Dotson played 42% of the Eagles’ snaps in Week 1 before increasing to 79% this week. However, he only had one target. That’s two targets in two games. Hurts doesn’t seem to trust him yet.
• Grant Calacterra tied his career high with two catches in a game. His 19 yards were his fourth-highest total yardage in a game.
• Despite playing only 32% of the snaps, Covey was the Eagles’ second-best player with six targets. He caught all of them for just 23 yards (3.8 yard average). Several plays were clearly intended as targets for Covey rather than as a checkdown option or a read on the play. The Eagles also had some odd personnel deployment last year, so it’s probably not just the offensive coordinator’s fault! More bizarre decisions from Nick Sirianni.
• Johnny Wilson has a small role as a block receiver, although he also has two targets in two games (the same number as Dotson). Unlike Week 1, Wilson did not play on special teams in Week 2, likely because he entered the game questionable with a hamstring injury.
• Parris Campbell was temporarily promoted from the practice squad to provide more receiver depth. He did not see any targets and did not play on special teams.
• Saquon managed a 10-yard run and then another 11-yard run on Philly’s second drive, and the Eagles had 1st-and-10 at Atlanta’s 15-yard line. Then Kenny Gainwell managed two runs totaling just 6 yards. That led to 3rd-and-4, where Hurts threw an incomplete pass to Wilson in the end zone on the left sideline. And then Sirianni tried, and Hurts’ incomplete pass led to a turnover on downs. I understand that Saquon might need a breather… but that doesn’t mean Gainwell justifies multiple touches in a crucial situation! Those were his only two touches all game! Again, bizarre use of offensive personnel. Covey and Gainwell accounted for 44.44% of the Eagles’ red zone touches that weren’t made by quarterbacks in this game. Why!
• EJ Jenkins has played a very small role as the third tight end. The Eagles can only temporarily bring him back from the practice squad this season.
• Fred Johnson took a snap late in the game and reported himself eligible for a tackle. Barkley ran three yards on that play to set up the 3rd-and-3, where Barkley dropped the game-winning pass.

DEFENSE

• Quinyon Mitchell remained the starting cornerback opposite Darius Slay. He did not move inside to play nickel.
• Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean were once again clearly the two best linebackers.
• Avonte Maddox was again the Eagles’ first choice and the Eagles played a lot of nickel.
• Jalen Carter’s snap count percentage was about the same as last week. He had one assisted tackle and no other stats in this game. Pretty disappointing start to the year for him. And for some reason Carter wasn’t on the field on the Falcons’ first drive? UPDATE: This is why Carter didn’t start:

• Josh Sweat has been the Eagles’ best edge rusher in terms of playing time. He is the only Eagles edge rusher to have a QB hit so far this season, with two in two games. Hurrah?
• Bryce Huff played just 45% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps in Week 1. He ranked fourth among Eagles edge rushers in terms of playing time. Huff’s playing time increased to 52% this week, making him second among Eagles edge rushers in terms of playing time. Despite this increase, he failed to record a single stat that even appeared on the scoresheet. Huff has one assisted tackle in two games this season and zero other stats. That’s pretty concerning!

• Jordan Davis deflected a pass from Kirk Cousins ​​early but otherwise didn’t stand out much. His snap count percentage dropped 5% from Week 1.
• Brandon Graham’s sack was negated by a weak defensive holding penalty that had no impact on the game. On one hand, it’s cool for BG that he still looks like he can play in year 15. On the other hand, it’s bad that he looks like their best pass rusher at this point in his career.
• Milton Williams is the Eagles’ only defensive lineman with a sack this season, making one for a key third-down stop that forced the Falcons into a red-zone field goal.
• Nolan Smith played 46% of the snaps in Week 1 before his numbers dropped to 38% in Week 2. It’s hard to say if the coaches are happy with the 2023 first-round pick.
• Trevor Booker recorded two tackles for loss despite only playing nine snaps! The rest of the defense only had 1 TFL (Williams). Maybe they should let him play more often!
• Kelee Ringo again played a very small role in defense.
• Cooper DeJean only played one snap after playing six in Week 1. Vic Fangio clearly doesn’t trust him to play much yet. That could change as the season progresses…but probably sooner rather than later.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Will Shipley didn’t have an offensive role this week. He did, however, make a nice special teams tackle in kickoff coverage.
• Jalyx Hunt played only on special teams in his NFL debut.
• Braden Mann was again responsible for the kickoff.

NOT PLAYED

INACTIVE: AJ Brown, Devin White, Tanner McKee, Darian Kinnard, Trevor Keegan, Byron Young, Eli Ricks

ACTIVE: Kenny Pickett, Isaiah Rodgers

• Brown told ESPN that he will be out for a few more weeks due to the hamstring injury he sustained in practice. Not good!

• White was cut from the roster. The Eagles gave him $3.5 million guaranteed in the offseason.
• Ricks was left off the roster due to health reasons after only appearing in one special teams snap in Week 1.
• Despite spending most of training camp as the starting outside cornerback alongside Darius Slay, Rodgers never played a single game, so it was a little odd not to see him at least back on kick returns.