The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 24-19 on Sunday in Week 8, with Ben Brown replacing Walter Rouse at left guard at halftime. Pats Pulpit‘s Patriots snap counts from Week 8 show Brown played 34 of the offense’s 60 snaps (57 percent) and Rouse 26 (43 percent).
New England ran 60 offensive snaps and held the ball for 31:09, per Pats Pulpit’s tally. The defense was on the field for 65 snaps and 26:33, a day that included the returns of cornerback Carlton Davis III and defensive tackle Christian Barmore.
Rouse started at left guard in place of Alijah Vera-Tucker, who is on injured reserve. Sunday was the latest adjustment for an offensive line that has been reshuffled repeatedly since the opener.
Notable Week 8 workloads from Pats Pulpit’s charting:
Patriots snap counts: Drake Maye and the line went wire-to-wire
Four offensive linemen joined the quarterback on every snap. Pats Pulpit charted Drake Maye, left tackle Will Campbell, center Jared Wilson, right guard Matt Pryor and right tackle Morgan Moses at 60 snaps apiece, 100 percent of the offensive workload.
That continuity stopped at left guard.
Walter Rouse starts, Ben Brown finishes at left guard
Rouse opened the game at left guard and took 26 snaps, 43 percent of the offensive total. The Patriots switched after two quarters and gave the second half to Brown, who finished at 57 percent.
Head coach Mike Vrabel addressed the change in his Monday remarks.
“Ben’s worked really hard,” Vrabel said on Monday. “Coming in, he had worked through the knee injury – would have been Jacksonville, I think. He came back, had been working in practice, and we stuck with Walter and then wanted to take a look at Ben. We’ll see where that goes this week. Those guys play extremely hard. It’s never going to be perfect. I thought they both did some things well. I thought they both would have some plays that they would like to improve on.”
Pats Pulpit framed Brown as the likely frontrunner to keep the job, with Vera-Tucker still on injured reserve.
Tight end rotation shifts after Hunter Henry’s foot injury
Hunter Henry was involved early and then left with a foot injury in the early second quarter, finishing with 8 snaps (13 percent), per Pats Pulpit. The room absorbed the loss almost immediately.
Rookie Eli Raridon played a career-high 55 snaps, 92 percent of the offensive total. Tanner Arkin set a career high of his own with 16 snaps (27 percent).
Rhamondre Stevenson’s workload and the receiver split without A.J. Brown
Rhamondre Stevenson took 46 snaps (77 percent) to lead the backfield.
With A.J. Brown inactive because of a knee injury, DeMario Douglas played 39 snaps (65 percent). Efton Chism III led the receivers at 53 snaps (88 percent), and Kyle Williams played 50 (83 percent). Williams caught a long second-half touchdown, Pats Pulpit reported.
Quarterback Tommy DeVito did not take a snap for the seventh time in eight games.
Carlton Davis III and Christian Barmore back in bigger roles
Davis returned from a three-game absence caused by a neck injury and played 63 of the defense’s 65 snaps (97 percent). Charles Woods took the two snaps Davis missed, and on one of them he fell and allowed Miami’s Kevin Coleman Jr. to score a 35-yard touchdown, per Pats Pulpit’s account of the play.
Barmore returned to the starting lineup after a four-game absence and played 36 snaps (55 percent). Pats Pulpit reported that Barmore had been the subject of recent trade speculation.
Safety Jaylen Reed played 13 defensive snaps (20 percent). Edge defender Gabe Jacas sustained a knee injury in the early third quarter, leaving New England thin on the edge.
Special teams and the end-of-roster ripple
Special teams accounted for 26 snaps and 2:18 of game time.
New England’s inactive list against Miami consisted of Behren Morton, TreVeyon Henderson (illness), A.J. Brown (knee), Karon Prunty, Channing Canada and Elliott Davison, per Pats Pulpit.
The Patriots waived veteran cornerback Kindle Vildor on Tuesday. Pats Pulpit reported that safety Elliott Davison was released and is expected to rejoin the team through its practice squad.
