Detroit Lions Week 12 snap counts: Injuries introduce new faces to lineup

Here’s a look at the Detroit Lions’ Week 12 snap counts against the Houston Texans.

Offense

Quarterbacks:

Matthew Stafford: 82 (100%)

Running backs:

Kerryon Johnson: 39 (48%)
Adrian Peterson: 22 (27%)
Jonathan Williams: 21 (26%) — 8 special teams snaps (28%)
Jason Cabinda: 13 (16%) — 19 (66%)

Tight ends:

T.J. Hockenson: 60 (73%)
Jesse James: 38 (46%) — 11 (38%)
Isaac Nauta: 8 (10%) — 8 (28%)

Wide receivers:

Marvin Jones Jr.: 68 (83%)
Marvin Hall: 49 (60%)
Mohamed Sanu: 39 (48%)
Jamal Agnew: 25 (30%) — 18 (62%)
Quintez Cephus: 25 (30%) — 9 (31%)

Offensive tackles:

Taylor Decker: 82 (100%)
Tyrell Crosby: 82 (100%) — 3 (10%)
Matt Nelson: 3 (4%) — 3 (10%)

Guards/centers

Frank Ragnow: 82 (100%) — 3 (10%)
Jonah Jackson: 82 (100%) — 3 (10%)
Oday Aboushi: 82 (100%) — 3 (10%)
Joe Dahl: 0 (0%) — 3 (10%)

Observations:

• Despite his early fumble, Jonathan Williams saw a significant chunk of snaps on Thursday, his first action on offense all season.
• Mohamed Sanu also saw a big jump in playing time this week, especially towards the end of the game. He became a favorite target of Matthew Stafford when the Lions were going no-huddle and the defense was playing prevent.
• Sanu, interestingly, is getting more playing time than Quintez Cephus. The Lions’ fifth-round rookie came into the year with a fair amount of hype, but has since considerably cooled off.
• 60 snaps from T.J. Hockenson is a season high for the Lions tight end, so it should come as no surprise that Thursday was his best statistical output of the year. That being said, that 73 percent of snaps is actually around average for him. Detroit just had a season-high 82 offensive snaps this week.

Defense:

Defensive end:

Romeo Okwara: 36 (64%) — 13 (45%)
Everson Griffen: 24 (43%) — 6 (21%)

Defensive tackle:

John Penisini: 44 (79%) — 4 (14%)
Nick Williams: 32 (57%) — 6 (21%)
Danny Shelton: 25 (45%) — 2 (7%)
Albert Huggins: 14 (25%)

Linebackers:

Jamie Collins Sr.: 45 (80%)
Jahlani Tavai: 37 (66%) — 11 (38%)
Christian Jones: 32 (57%) — 9 (31%)
Reggie Ragland: 32 (57%)
Jarrad Davis: 18 (32%) — 15 (52%)
Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 0 (0%) — 26 (90%)

Cornerbacks:

Amani Oruwariye: 56 (100%)
Justin Coleman: 40 (71%) — 11 (38%)
Desmond Trufant: 27 (48%)
Dee Virgin: 0 (0%) — 17 (59%)

Safeties:

Duron Harmon: 56 (100%) — 7 (24%)
Jayron Kearse: 48 (86%) — 5 (17%)
Tracy Walker: 27 (48%) — 10 (34%)
Will Harris: 23 (41%) — 20 (69%)
Miles Killebrew: 0 (0%) — 26 (90%)
C.J. Moore: 0 (0%) — 20 (69%)

Observations:

• With the mid-game injury to Danny Shelton, John Penisini slid into the lineup with ease. His 79 percent playing time is a season high. Always good to see his growth.
• Detroit’s linebacker usage was almost identical to last week, as Jahlani Tavai appears to have worked his way back into a significant role on defense. Meanwhile, Jarrad Davis continues to look playable in a limited role.
• Despite dealing with a back injury, Amani Oruwariye played in every single defensive snap on Thursday. And the fact that he was taken off special teams is probably a good sign that he was still dealing with that injury on gameday.
• Will Harris saw more playing time in his second consecutive start for Detroit. But when Desmond Trufant went down, we saw a lot more Tracy Walker playing some makeshift corner. Justin Coleman, too, played some outside corner when necessary.

Special teams:

Jack Fox: 10 special teams snaps (34%)
Don Muhlbach: 6 (21%)
Matt Prater: 4 (14%)