MIAMI - Last week, head coach Doug Pederson said rookie J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was "kind of the guy" at one of the outside receiver positions.
So much for that.
With the returns of Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor, Arcega-Whiteside played 27 snaps (38 percent), while Greg Ward played 29.
I know they are very different players, but the fact that the second-round pick isn't playing more than a former undrafted college quarterback who was on the practice squad two weeks ago, just doesn't make sense.
Arcega-Whiteside had one catch (the 15-yard touchdown), while Ward had one catch for five yards.
For the most part, the way it worked on Sunday against the Dolphins was that when Ward was out there, Jeffery and Agholor were outside. When JJAW was out there, Agholor was inside. To me, that makes more sense. Play Agholor in the slot, where he's been more successful in his career.
At least the Eagles have finally taken away snaps from Mack Hollins. He played just seven on Sunday, but still managed to get a penalty to negate an 11-yard gain. Gotta respect his commitment to getting penalties.
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More offensive notes
• The good news in this game was that the entire OL and Carson Wentz played the whole game (minus one missed snap from Peters).
• Miles Sanders played 62 snaps, after playing 64 in each of the last two weeks. He also had a career-high in carries with 17 that went for 83 yards and added five catches for 22 and a touchdown. It still probably still wasn't enough Sanders. Jay Ajayi played just nine snaps and Boston Scott didn't get any.
Sanders has 879 yards from scrimmage. That's the most ever for an Eagles rookie through 12 games.
• Playing through a hamstring injury, Zach Ertz played 53 snaps and Dallas Goedert played 40. Ertz had one of the worst games he's had in a long time. It's unclear if the hamstring affected him a ton.
Offense
Isaac Seumalo: 71 snaps (100%)
Brandon Brooks: 71 (100%)
Lane Johnson: 71 (100%)
Jason Kelce: 71 (100%)
Carson Wentz: 71 (100%)
Jason Peters: 70 (99%)
Alshon Jeffery: 64 (90%)
Nelson Agholor: 63 (89%)
Miles Sanders: 62 (87%)
Zach Ertz: 53 (75%)
Dallas Goedert: 40 (56%)
Greg Ward: 29 (41%)
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: 27 (38%)
Jay Ajayi: 9 (13%)
Mack Hollins: 7 (10%)
Halapoulivaati Vaitai: 1 (1%)
Andre Dillard: 1 (1%)
Defensive notes
• Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby played almost the entire game on Sunday and had an awful afternoon. Meanwhile, Sidney Jones was a healthy scratch and Rasul Douglas didn't get on the field on defense.
How's that for a microcosm of the problems with the Eagles? They drafted these guys in the second and third rounds two years ago and in a game where the guys in front of them were awful, they couldn't get on the field. Some of that is probably evaluation and some of it has to be coaching.
• In his return from IR, Cre'Von LeBlanc had a somewhat significant role, playing 17 snaps. He split nickel reps with Avonte Maddox, who played 41 snaps.
• After trading a fourth-round pick for Genard Avery, he has played 20 total snaps and has just two tackles and a half sack. Avery came up empty on his five snaps Sunday. The Eagles have him under contract for two more years, but it would be ideal to see him play a little more or contribute just a tad.
• Tim Jernigan played a season-high 42 snaps on Sunday. He had 3 tackles, a TFL and a QB hit, but also got called twice for roughing the passer. The Eagles cut DT Albert Huggins on Saturday, so Jernigan's snaps increased.
• Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod played every snap. Jenkins is now 793/793 on the season.
Defense
Malcolm Jenkins: 72 snaps (100%)
Rodney McLeod: 72 (100%)
Jalen Mills: 71 (99%)
Nigel Bradham: 69 (96%)
Ronald Darby: 67 (93%)
Brandon Graham: 58 (81%)
Fletcher Cox: 57 (79%)
Derek Barnett: 50 (69%)
Kamu Grugier-Hill: 42 (58%)
Tim Jernigan: 42 (58%)
Avonte Maddox: 41 (57%)
Nate Gerry: 39 (54%)
Josh Sweat: 31 (43%)
Anthony Rush: 27 (38%)
Vinny Curry: 20 (28%)
Cre'Von LeBlanc: 17 (24%)
Genard Avery: 5 (7%)
T.J. Edwards: 4 (6%)
Duke Riley: 4 (6%)
Marcus Epps: 4 (6%)
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