Packers Week 6 Snap Counts: Lazard, Doubs played nearly every snap vs Jets

The Green Bay Packers are coming off of a two-game skid as touchdown favorites that if head coach Matt LaFleur can correct the course could define his career in Green Bay. No pressure.

Anyway, let’s take a look at who the Packers played on Sunday in their loss to the New York Jets. Defensively, the team used some new personnel packages, at least more frequently. Offensively, the team leaned on their starting skill players more than ever.

Offense (73 total)

Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers 69, Jordan Love 4

Despite the thumb injury that seemed to impact him during the game, starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers played every snap up until the team’s final drive. Backup Jordan Love came in for that four-play sequence when the Packers were down 17 points with about 2:30 left in the game. On the year, it was the second game Love played in, with the other being garbage time in the season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Running Backs

Aaron Jones 41, AJ Dillon 36, Patrick Taylor 1

Despite leaning on the package early in the season, the Packers have seemingly eliminated their two-back “Pony” personnel in recent weeks. Last week, the team only played three snaps in the personnel package. This week, the team only played four plays of it.

This game featured a near 50-50 split between Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, though, which was a change from Jones out-snapping Dillon two-to-one in Week 5. Patrick Taylor, meanwhile, played his first and only snap of offensive football this season on Sunday. Taylor has played 51 of his 52 snaps on special teams in 2022.

Wide Receivers

Allen Lazard 71, Romeo Doubs 70, Randall Cobb 26, Amari Rodgers 24, Juwann Winfree 13

If you want to know how thin the Packers’ receiver room is, their snap counts will tell you the story. Out of 73 possible snaps, receivers Allen Lazard and Romeo Doubs plays 71 and 70 of them, respectively. To put that into perspective, Lazard’s 97 percent of offensive snaps played is a career-high and two of his three previous career highs also game in Week 4 and Week 5.

With the ankle injury to Randall Cobb, the Packers could be down to just four healthy receivers on their 53-man roster in Lazard, Doubs, return man Amari Rodgers and rookie draft pick Samori Toure. Toure, though, is one of two players on the active roster who has yet to be activated to the gameday roster this season. Rodgers’ 24 offensive snaps are the second-most in his NFL career, only behind his effort in Week 18 against the Detroit Lions in 2021 when Green Bay rested their starters in the second half.

Tight Ends

Robert Tonyan 46, Marcedes Lewis 27, Tyler Davis 5, Josiah Deguara 5

If there was one bright spot on the offensive side of the ball on Sunday, it’s that Robert Tonyan, coming off of an ACL injury, looks to be back. Tonyan was targeted 12 times for 10 receptions and 90 yards. From a yards-per-game standpoint, his 36.5 yards per game is close to matching his 2020 effort (36.6) which is his current career high.

Marcedes Lewis is still the team’s “starter,” as the Packers tend to use him on early downs and in run-heavy situations. Tyler Davis and Josiah Deguara as still being used as off-ball tight ends and in drive-starting situations.

Offensive Line

Josh Myers 73, Elgton Jenkins 73, Jon Runyan Jr. 73, David Bakhtiari 69, Royce Newman 68, Jake Hanson 5, Yosh Nijman 4

The Packers’ starting offensive line of Bakhtiari-Runyan-Myers-Newman-Jenkins (left to right) played the vast majority of the game on Sunday. Jake Hanson replaced the struggling Newman late in the first half before he went down with an injury that put Newman back into the game. Yosh Nijman replaced Bakhtiari late in the game at left tackle. Look for the talk about Nijman, who has started 10 games in the last two seasons, getting a look at right tackle to heat up with the right side of the line continuing to struggle.

Defense (55 total)

Defensive Linemen

Kenny Clark 46, Jarran Reed 37, Dean Lowry 32, TJ Slaton 20, Devonte Wyatt 7

Despite TJ Slaton’s breakout game against the New York Giants last week, the Packers didn’t increase his usage against the Jets. Slaton and rookie first-round pick Devonte Wyatt combined for just 27 defensive snaps, fewer than either of the struggling Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry on the defensive line. After weeks of offensive linemen gobbling up the team’s defensive ends in the ground game, it’s uncertain if there’s anything the Packers can do to improve their run defense until a change is made up front.

Outside Linebackers

Rashan Gary 46, Preston Smith 43, Kingsley “JJ” Enagbare 11, Jonathan Garvin 10

Rashan Gary’s toe injury made him a game-time decision on Sunday. Not only did Gary suit up, but he led the outside linebackers in snaps as backups JJ Enagbare and Jonathan Garvin played just 21 combined plays on defense. Despite Tipa Galeai going on the injured reserve, it shouldn’t impact the pass-rushing rotation much as Galeai had not yet played a defensive snap in 2022.

Inside Linebackers

De’Vondre Campbell 55, Quay Walker 38

Using the Packers’ snap counts to reverse engineer the team’s defensive fronts, you can assume that Green Bay played 13 snaps of Penny (5-1) and four snaps of three-safety dime this week. That is a significant uptick in snaps where Campbell is the sole inside linebacker on the team, a role in which he thrived in last season.

Cornerbacks

Eric Stokes 55, Jaire Alexander 55, Rasul Douglas 36

Rasul Douglas continues to play the majority of the team’s snaps, even though he’s considered the team’s third cornerback. While it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, it’s worth noting here that the Packers did use Jaire Alexander situationally as a slot cornerback in this game, something fans have been asking for in recent weeks.

Safeties

Adrian Amos 55, Darnell Savage 55, Rudy Ford 4

Rudy Ford emerged as the team’s third safety when Adrian Amos left action with a concussion earlier this season. For whatever reason, though, the team has leaned away from playing dime looks for most of the year, playing four-corner dime when they did dabble in six-defensive back looks. Week 6 marked the first week where the Packers leaned a bit into three-safety dime, which is what the team played on third and long for most of 2021. If Ford can fill that role effectively, the defense has another situational package to play with.

Special Teams Leaders

TE Tyler Davis 23, CB Keisean Nixon 20, ILB Isaiah McDuffie 20, S Dallin Leavitt 20, Josiah Deguara 18, ILB Eric Wilson 17, S Rudy Ford 13, RB Patrick Taylor 12, OLB Jonathan Garvin 12