In the Arizona Cardinals’ 21-13 preseason loss to the Indianapolis Colts Saturday night, there were 30 players that participated in at least one of the 72 defensive snaps and 53 that played at least one of the 24 special-teams snaps.
Showing an example of who played a lot after two days of practice with the Colts, look closely at those at each position led the unit in snaps.
The first number after each name is snaps and the second is the percentage. Players in bold were starters.
Defensive linemen
Phil Hoskins 35/49, Naquan Jones 35/49, Ben Stille 32/44, Myles Murphy 30/42, Khyiris Tonga 15/21, L.J. Collier 12/17, Dante Stills 9/12
Did not play: Justin Jones, Roy Lopez, Bilal Nichols, Darius Robinson
The four that didn’t play will be a large part of the rotation when the regular season starts. Lopez and the rookie Robinson played against the Saints. Asked about Robinson not playing, head coach Jonathan Gannon said, “I just like where he is at. He got a lot of work the last two days. I like where he is at. I felt like he needed to not play.”
Collier will also be in the rotation and in his productive 12 snaps had a sack and quarterback hit, and three tackles (two solo) with one for loss. The leading tacklers were Naquan Jones with four (two solo) and Stille with three solo with onje for loss and a quarterback hit.
Linebackers
ILB Tyreek Maddox-Williams 43/60, OLB Tyreke Smith 42/58, ILB Trevor Nowaske 35/49, OLB Victor Dimukeje 32/44, ILB Markus Bailey 31/43, OLB Cam Thomas 29/40, OLB Xavier Thomas 26/36, OLB Jesse Luketa 21/29, ILB Owen Pappoe 15/21, ILB Krys Barnes 8/11
Did not play: OLB Zaven Collins, OLB Dennis Gardeck, ILB Kyzir White, ILB Mack Wilson Sr.
The Thomases led the stat sheet as Cameron had two sacks plus two quarterback hits to go with four tackles (three solo) and a tackle for loss. Xavier had a sack in his second consecutive game for 12 yards, two quarterback hits, two tackles with the solo stop being for loss.
Xavier, who acknowledged being nervous on his first snap the week before, said, “Today I pretty much knew what to expect and things like that. It’s always good to get more comfortable.”
Said Cameron, “I definitely got more opportunities to put on display what I’ve got. I believe I did a pretty good job (and) maximized those opportunities.”
Luketa, Bailey and Maddox-Williams each had four tackles (two solo), while Nowaske and Smith had three tackles with former having one solo.
Defensive backs
CB Darren Hall 51/71, S Verone McKinley III 46/64, CB Bobby Price 27/38, CB Max Melton 26/36, S Dadrion (Rabbit) Taylor-Demerson 26/36, CB Michael Ojemudia 26/36, CB Kei’Trel Clark 22/31, CB Jaden Davis 21/29, CB Divaad Wilson 20/28, S Joey Blount 20/28, CB Elijah Jones 19/26, S Andre Chachere 11/15, CB Starling Thomas V 12/17
Did not play: S Budda Baker, CB Delonte Hood, CB Sean Murphy-Bunting, S Jalen Thompson, CB Garrett Williams
Taylor-Demerson had an interception and a pass defensed plus two solo tackles.
He said, “It was real special. I was telling JT (Jalen Thompson) and Budda (Baker) all day today I was going to get one. Then literally told my two best friends I was feeling one. I told my agent I was getting one. Put it in my head all day. The play finally came and I caught it. I was cool. It was like electric going through my body when I caught it. I didn’t know what to do.”
Hall and Jones each had five tackles (four solo) with Jones notching one for loss. Hall had two passes defensed. Wilson and Price had four tackles (three solo), while McKinley had four with one solo.
Clark had two tackles and a forced fumble that was recovered by Dante Stills. Of Clark, Gannon said, “I thought he looked violent, physical. He had a couple good coverages in there – forced the fumble. He looked good in there. He played two spots today, so that was good to see.”
Special teams
CB Bobby Price 14/58, S Joey Blount 13/54, LB Markus Bailey 12/50, LB Victor Dimukeje 12/50, TE Blake Whiteheart 11/46, KR DeeJay Dallas 10/42, LB Trevor Nowaske 10/42, P Blake Gillikin 9/38, LB Owen Pappoe 9/38, LB Jesse Luketa 8/33, TE Tip Reiman 7/29, LB Cam Thomas 7/29, LB Tyreek Maddox-Williams 7/29, CB Elijah Jones 7/29, K Matt Prater 6/25, LS Joe Shimko 6/25, RB Tony Jones Jr. 6/25, CB Darren Hall 6/25, CB Divaad Wilson 6/25, LB Krys Barnes 5/21, DL Phil Hoskins 5/21, DL Ben Stille 5/21, S Dadrion (Rabbit) Taylor Demerson 5/21, WR Daniel Arias 4/17, CB Max Melton 4/17, S Verone McKinley III 4/17, CB Michael Ojemudia 4/17, LS Aaron Brewer 3/13, G Jon Gaines II 3/13, T Christian Jones 3/13, G Isaiah Adams 3/13, T Jackson Barton 3/13, T Austen Pleasants 3/13, WR Andre Baccellia 3/13, WR Chris Moore 3/13, TE Bernhard Seikovits 3/13, DL Naquan Jones 3/13, LB Xavier Thomas 3/13, CB Kei’Trel Clark 3/13, CB Jaden Davis 3/13, WR/KR Xavier 2/8, RB/KR Emari Demercado 2/8, G Marquis Hayes Jr. 2/8, T Elijah Wilkinson 2/8, WR Dan Chisena 2/8, WR Zach Pascal 2/8, TE Travis Vokolek 2/8, S Andre Chachere 2/8, LB Tyreke Smith 2/8, DL Myles Murphy 2/8, C/G Keith Ismael 1/4, WR Tejhaun Palmer 1/4, CB Starling Thomas V 1/4
Gillikin had punts of 62 and 64 yards, an average of 51.7 on six punts with a net of 44.8. Weaver had a 37-yard kickoff return and Dallas one for 38 that was shortened because of a Dimukeje penalty. Dallas also had a 16-yard punt return negated by a Price penalty. A Prater low kickoff landed short of the landing zone from the goal line to the 20, putting the ball at the 40 for the Colts.
On kick coverage, Nowaske had two tackles, while Taylor-Demerson, Pascal and Baccelia had one. In addition to Prater, Dimukeje and Price, Melton was guilty of a penalty on a return.
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