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The Miami Dolphins sit at 5-6 on the season after losing another winnable game this past weekend, this time at the hands of the Carolina Panthers. As we finish our recaps of the game, we turn to our defensive snap counts for Miami, having already looked at the offensive counts yesterday.
The Miami defensive line started Cameron Wake, Randy Starks, Paul Soliai, and Jared Odrick, technically putting three defensive tackles on the line for the first snap. However, none of Sunday's starters played as many snaps as normal starter Olivier Vernon, who was on the field for 63 of the team's 71 defensive snaps. Wake played 53 snaps, while Odrick was on the field for 51 plays. Soliai took 34 snaps, while rookie Dion Jordan was on the field for 33 plays and Starks made 32 appearances. Finally, Derrick Shelby came into the contest for 19 snaps.
At linebacker, Dannell Ellerbe spent 70 snaps on the field, missing one play, while Philip Wheeler was in on 66 plays. Koa Misi made 36 appearances, while Jason Trusnik came of the bench four times and Austin Spitler added one play.
Brent Grimes and Nolan Carroll, who was again starting for the injured Dimitri Patterson, both played 70 of the 71 snaps out at cornerback for the Dolphins. Jimmy Wilson continues to work as a nickel cornerback, and played 38 snaps.
Safety Reshad Jones again played every snap, and has not missed a play this season, appearing in all 792 defensive snaps. Chris Clemons, meanwhile, who had statistically played 100% of the snaps on the year (718 of 721), missed four snaps during the game, making it on the field for 67 plays. D.J. Williams, the former seventh round draft pick by the Panthers, took three snaps at safety while Clemons was out.