The day after a game is always a good time to check back in on who played and for how long for the Detroit Lions. Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snap counts are now out.
Before even getting to the player participation, the stark discrepancy in the number of offensive snaps jumps off the sheet. Detroit ran 85 offensive plays, while Tampa Bay ran just 48. The Lions ran 37 more plays than the Bucs.
That crazy split puts a cap on some of the Detroit defensive participation; there just weren’t nearly as many opportunities as in a normal game. Three players, all in the secondary, played every defensive snap:
Kerby Joseph
Brian Branch
Carlton Davis
Slot CB Amk Robertson played 18 snaps, including four filling in for starting outside CB Terrion Arnold when Arnold dealt with a finger injury.
Linebacker Alex Anzalone played all 40 available snaps before departing with a concussion. That left Derrick Barnes playing the most reps at LB, with 45. Jack Campbell played 35, followed by Malcolm Rodriguez with 19. Jalen Reeves-Maybin did sneak onto the field for two.
James Houston played three snaps in his return to the lineup at EDGE. With Marcus Davenport out, Levi Onwuzurike took over most of his snaps. Onwuzurike was on the field for 36 of the 48 snaps. Aidan Hutchinson played his customary 90 percent of snaps, playing 43. DJ Reader saw action on 25 in his Lions debut.
On offense, the entire starting offensive line and QB Jared Goff were iron men and never left the field.
At RB, Jahmyr Gibbs out-repped David Montgomery 53 to 30. Sione Vaki played four reps, while Craig Reynolds played three out of 85 snaps.
Tim Patrick wound up getting more snaps at wide receiver than Kalif Raymond. Patrick, called up from the practice squad, played 33 to Raymond’s 31. Tom Kennedy played five, though Kennedy was Detroit’s primary kick returner in this game.
The Lions had three reserve offensive linemen who played one snap apiece: Dan Skipper, Kayode Awosika and Michael Niese.