Detroit Lions Week 14 snap counts: Austin Bryant finally getting meaningful playing time

Here’s a look at the Detroit Lions’ Week 14 snap counts against the Green Bay Packers.

Offense

Quarterbacks:

Matthew Stafford: 61 (90%)
Chase Daniel: 7 (10%)

Running backs:

D’Andre Swift: 36 (53%)
Adrian Peterson: 17 (25%)
Kerryon Johnson: 15 (22%) — 6 special teams snaps (24%)
Jason Cabinda: 4 (6%) — 15 (60%)

Tight ends:

T.J. Hockenson: 57 (84%)
Jesse James: 26 (38%) — 10 (40%)
Hunter Bryant: 4 (6%) — 6 (24%)

Wide receivers:

Marvin Jones Jr.: 60 (88%)
Mohamed Sanu: 41 (60%)
Danny Amendola: 35 (51%)
Quintez Cephus: 33 (49%) — 6 (24%)
Jamal Agnew: 11 (16%) — 14 (56%)

Offensive tackles:

Taylor Decker: 68 (100%)
Matt Nelson: 68 (100%) — 4 (16%)
Dan Skipper: 2 (3%) — 5 (20%)

Guards/centers

Frank Ragnow: 68 (100%) — 4 (16%)
Jonah Jackson: 68 (100%) — 4 (16%)
Oday Aboushi: 68 (100%) — 4 (16%)
Joe Dahl: 0 (0%) — 4 (16%)
Logan Stenberg: 0 (0%) — 4 (16%)

Observations:

• Although he didn’t get the start, the Lions wasted little time in making D’Andre Swift the feature back again on Sunday. Despite missing the three previous games, Swift took up more than half the carries, leaving barely a quarter of the snaps for Adrian Peterson and Kerryon Johnson each.
• The Hunter Bryant hype appears to have been severely overstated. For the second straight week, he barely saw the field on offense.
• The Lions’ use of a fullback appears to be dropping as the season goes on. Through the first five weeks of the season, he averaged 12.2 snaps per game. For the last eight games, he’s averaging just 6.9.

Defense:

Defensive end:

Romeo Okwara: 56 (84%) — 11 (44%)
Austin Bryant: 30 (45%) — 2 (8%)

Defensive tackle:

Nick Williams: 40 (60%) — 5 (20%)
John Penisini: 35 (52%)
Kevin Strong: 30 (45%)
Da’Shawn Hand: 20 (30%) — 2 (8%)

Linebackers:

Jamie Collins Sr.: 60 (90%)
Jahlani Tavai: 41 (61%) — 3 (12%)
Christian Jones: 37 (55%) — 8 (32%)
Reggie Ragland: 18 (27%)
Jarrad Davis: 15 (22%) — 11 (44%)
Kareem Martin: 11 (16%) — 3 (12%)
Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 0 (0%) — 21 (84%)

Cornerbacks:

Amani Oruwariye: 67 (100%) — 3 (12%)
Justin Coleman: 58 (87%) — 3 (12%)
Darryl Roberts: 41 (61%) — 2 (8%)
Mike Ford: 24 (36%) — 19 (76%)

Safeties:

Duron Harmon: 67 (100%) — 9 (36%)
Jayron Kearse: 49 (73%) — 5 (20%)
Tracy Walker: 28 (42%) — 7 (28%)
Will Harris: 10 (15%) — 14 (56%)
Miles Killebrew: 0 (0%) — 21 (84%)
Bobby Price: 0 (0%) — 16 (64%)

Observations:

• Hard to know if Da’Shawn Hand got the easing-in treatment or if he’s simply fallen out of favor on defense. Prior to missing the past three games, Hand was averaging around 50 percent of the defensive snaps, but in this one, he was at only 30 percent
• With no Everson Griffen, Austin Bryant saw a good chunk of playing time in his own return rom injury. He has now played in 45 percent or more of defensive snaps in all three of his games played. He was the only Lions player to record a quarterback hit this week.

That playing time is definitely meaningful to the 2019 fourth-round pick. Bryant has battled through several injuries, and this was just his seventh game played.

“I just didn’t let it stop me,” Bryant said via a Zoom call on Monday. “I just kept showing up. Kept showing up to rehab. Kept working out. Kept studying. Kept learning. Kept soaking in knowledge from older guys and coaches on the team. Just knew what my end goal was, and that was to help this team win in any way I could. Now that I finally have a chance to do that, you know, it just brings me great joy and excitement of where this program can go.”

• Mike Ford played a season-high 24 snaps due to massive injuries at cornerback. Jeff Okudah and Desmond Trufant were already out, and Darryl Roberts suffered an in-game injury. Given the difficulty of stepping right in against Aaron Rodgers, Ford fared quite well.

Special teams:

Matt Prater: 9 (36%)
Jack Fox: 8 (32%)
Don Muhlbach: 7 (28%)