FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- When the New England Patriots traded defensive end Chandler Jones in March, one line of thinking was that they were comfortable doing so because they had Jabaal Sheard ready to elevate into a starting role.
That is how things started in 2016, but in Sunday night’s 31-24 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Sheard was buried in the No. 4 spot on the depth chart and played a season-low 16 snaps.
Second-year player Trey Flowers, a fourth-round draft choice acquired with the pick from the Logan Mankins trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, stepped in and played 61 snaps.
Why the expanded opportunity for Flowers?
“There’s really no difference for any players on the team. Everybody earns their playing time,” coach Bill Belichick said after the game. “Players that play the best earn the playing time.”
Flowers (two sacks) leapfrogging Sheard on the depth chart is one of the more notable developments from Sunday night and leads off the weekly snap-count analysis:
Total offensive snaps: 67
Total defensive snaps: 70
DEFENSIVE END
Flowers -- 61
Rob Ninkovich -- 46
Chris Long -- 37
Sheard -- 16
Ninkovich picked up is first sack of the season, while Long didn’t register on the stat sheet and had an offside penalty. Flowers not only started at end, but was used inside as an interior sub rusher in passing situations.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Malcom Brown -- 49
Alan Branch -- 48
Vincent Valentine -- 18
The Seahawks, who had been having trouble running the ball, had enough success to keep at it -- 26 carries for 96 yards (3.7 avg.). Valentine was part of a planned rotation on the third series of each half.
LINEBACKER
Dont'a Hightower -- 70
Elandon Roberts -- 58
Shea McClellin -- 16
This was the first game for the defense without Jamie Collins, and Roberts, the sixth-round pick from the University of Houston, started in Collins’ spot. He was in coverage on a second-half wheel route that went for a long gain and also missed one tackle while playing downhill in the running game. He would come off in obvious third-down passing situations with McClellin coming on (with limited impact). Newly acquired Kyle Van Noy was inactive, while Barkevious Mingo only played on special teams.
CORNERBACK
Malcolm Butler -- 68
Logan Ryan -- 68
Justin Coleman -- 44
Ryan regained his starting role opposite Butler, as Eric Rowe (who had started the prior two games) was a healthy scratch. The Seahawks had success throwing at Ryan, as well as slot corner Coleman. Rookies Cyrus Jones and Jonathan Jones played only on special teams.
SAFETY
Patrick Chung -- 70
Devin McCourty -- 70
Duron Harmon -- 29
Nate Ebner -- 2
Harmon started in the three-safety “Big Nickel” package, which the Patriots usually tapped when fullback Will Tukuafu was on the field. Then when the Seahawks took Tukuafu off the field and brought on a third receiver, Harmon came off in place of a cornerback (Coleman). Ebner’s two snaps came on the goal line.
WIDE RECEIVER
Julian Edelman -- 53
Chris Hogan -- 32
Danny Amendola -- 27
Malcolm Mitchell -- 20
Matthew Slater -- 7
Hogan didn’t look like himself while playing through a back injury. The team reduced his workload, as he has usually been part of the two-receiver package, but he split those duties with Mitchell. Slater came on in obvious running situations as a way to lighten the blocking load on the other receivers.
TIGHT END
Rob Gronkowski -- 57
Martellus Bennett -- 44
Cameron Fleming -- 7
Gronkowski remains the top tight end in the 3-WR/1-TE package, which is why his snap count has consistently been higher than Bennett. But the Patriots had more snaps than the norm with Gronkowski not on the field, as Bennett was the lone tight end in the 2-WR/1-TE/1-FB/1-RB package. Fleming, an offensive tackle, declared eligible in power running situations.
RUNNING BACK
LeGarrette Blount -- 37
James White -- 29
After Shane Vereen had a big Super Bowl XLIX, the thought was that White might be a bigger part of the plan from a pass-catching standpoint (four catches, 32 yards) but that’s not the way it turned out.
FULLBACK
James Develin -- 22
This marked an increase for the hard-charging lead blocker, as the Patriots remained committed to trying to establish the running game out of the two-back set.
QUARTERBACK
Tom Brady -- 67
He took a hit on the right knee from safety Kam Chancellor and was seen flexing his right knee/leg throughout the drive and then appeared to have a compress of some sort over the knee on the sideline. After the game, Brady said, “It didn’t have any impact. A lot of guys are playing through pain out there.”
OFFENSIVE LINE
LT Nate Solder -- 67
LG Joe Thuney -- 67
C David Andrews -- 67
RG Shaq Mason -- 67
RT Marcus Cannon -- 67
After a strong opening drive, there appeared to be some breakdowns up front that contributed to the offense being knocked out of rhythm.
