Eagles-Browns snap counts: Signs of life from Bryce Huff, Grant Calcaterra steps up, and more

Playing time analysis.

The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 6 win over the Cleveland Browns are in. Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.

OFFENSE

• DeVonta Smith has played 100% of the snaps in three of the Eagles’ five games this season. He didn’t in Week 3 because he left early due to a concussion that also kept him out of Week 4. Guessing we’ll continue to see DeVonta play every single snap when he’s available.
• Grant Calcaterra nearly played the entire game with Dallas Goedert leaving early due to a hamstring injury. It was a career day for him with four targets for four catches and 67 yards. Calcaterra was targeted just four times all of last season (despite Goedert missing three games)! And his first target in 2023 didn’t come until the Week 15 Christmas game against the New York Giants. Maybe continue use this guy more than never?
• A.J. Brown appears to be fully past his hamstring injury.
• Jordan Mailata missed snaps for the first time since October 30, 2022. He’s dealing with a hamstring injury:

• This was Saquon Barkley’s least efficient game thus far with his 20 touches resulting in just 54 yards. Jim Schwartz likely made stopping him the Browns’ top priority.
• As was the case with Calcaterra, Jack Stoll saw increased playing time with Goedert leaving early. He did not see a target, though.
• The Eagles clearly went with more 12 personnel packages in this game. Less 11 personnel than usual. That much is reflected in a season-low snap count percentage for Jahan Dotson. His previous low was the 42.1% he played in Week 1. Dotson did see at least three targets for the third game in a row after only seeing two over the first two weeks combined. And he made an important catch for a first down towards the end of the game. Perhaps Jalen Hurts is slowly but surely coming to trust him more.
• Fred Johnson came in to play left tackle with Mailata leaving early. We now have confirmation that he’s the top backup at both tackle spots since he previously filled in for Lane Johnson at right tackle. That said, it’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles handle Mailata’s absence if he indeed misses time. Is it simple as starting Fred Johnson, who struggled in his Week 4 start? Could they move Mekhi Becton over to left tackle and have Tyler Steen play right guard?
• Rookie Johnny Wilson had a small role as WR4.
• The Eagles once again had Reed Blankenship line up deep in the backfield for victory formation in case of a fumbled snap (very unlikely).
• It remains to be seen how serious Goedert’s injury is.

DEFENSE

• Already covered in the offense graphic but highlighting again here: Blankenship played all of the defensive snaps.
• Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun were the top two tacklers with 12 and eight total, respectively. Dean also had some noticeable misses.
• Cooper DeJean basically played the entire game after only logging eight defensive snaps over the Eagles’ first four weeks. DeJean was not targeted in coverage but he did look good as a run defender and blitzer in addition to being productive as a punt returner. Encouraging performance.
• Last year, Jalen Carter played more than 70% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps just once. This year, he’s played at least 75% in four of their five games. Against the Browns’ banged up offensive line, Carter had a team-high three quarterback hits, one sack, and one TFL.
• Josh Sweat had one sack, one TFL, and two QB hits. That’s two games in a row where he’s had a sack after previously not logging a regular season sack since Week 9 of the 2023 season. Maybe he’s heating back up?
• Bryce Huff actually did some stuff! Playing his highest snap count percentage of the season, Huff logged two total tackles (one solo) and half of a sack! Wow. Signs of life.
• Darius Slay’s status bears monitoring after he left the game early and didn’t return.
• Milton Williams is up to 1.5 sacks this season after only logging half a sack last year. He’s 2.5 shy of tying his career high that he set in 2022.
• Brandon Graham played his lowest snap count percentage this season. Despite that, only four defenders made more tackles. And Graham came up with a huge TFL that forced the Browns to settle for a field goal attempt that they missed.
• Isaiah Rodgers entered the game when Slay got hurt. Rodgers briefly missed some time, allowing Kelee Ringo to see snaps, before ultimately returning.
• Jordan Davis played his lowest snap count percentage this season by a significant margin (10.7% fewer than he played in Week 2). Davis did log his second TFL this season and the fifth of his career.
• Nolan Smith played his lowest snap count percentage this season. He logged his first sack this season, giving him two total for his career.
• Moro Ojomo doesn’t appear in the box score but he clearly stood out as a disruptive force when watching the game. He helped to create the sack that Cooper DeJean got credit for after the Eagles challenged Deshaun Watson’s knee being down before he dirted the ball.
• Thomas Booker IV continues to flash in limited playing time.
• Demoted from his nickel corner role, Avonte Maddox only saw a couple defensive snaps in dime packages and played on special teams.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Jack Driscoll played his first snaps since re-joining the Eagles. He’s wearing No. 75 now (previously No. 63).

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Tanner McKee, Nick Gates, Darian Kinnard, Trevor Keegan, Eli Ricks, Byron Young

ACTIVE: Kenny Pickett, Parris Campbell

• All of the inactives were healthy scratches since there were no injuries entering this game. Gates being demoted from an interior backup option to a healthy scratch with Jack Driscoll playing over him doesn’t seem great for his stock moving forward.
• Active as the fifth receiver after being signed to the roster, Campbell didn’t see any snaps on offense or special teams.