It was a surprise to see Antonio Hamilton in the starting lineup Sunday over rookie Kei'Trel Clark, but there it was. What is harder to discern is how much Clark would've played on defense if it hadn't been for injuries.
Hamilton played 66 of the 82 defensive snaps by the Cardinals on Sunday, but he missed the second series with an ankle injury and then another chunk when he was being checked for a concussion. That opened the door for Clark to play again, and then when safety Jalen Thompson -- who was playing nickel most of the time -- went out for good with a hamstring injury, Clark went back to his regular role and Hamilton moved to nickel.
Clark ended up with 40 snaps. The rest of the secondary was essentially static; cornerback Marco Wilson was in for all 82 snaps, as was safety K'Von Wallace. Safety Andre Chachere played 79.
Linebacker Kyzir White again played every snap, and fellow inside linebacker Josh Woods (in his first game back after an ankle injury) played 68. At outside linebacker, Zaven Collins led the way with 46, followed by Dennis Gardeck (38), Victor Dimukeje (29), Cameron Thomas (29), and BJ Ojulari (22).
On the defensive line, the rotation played out as Kevin Strong leading the way with 47, followed by Dante Stills (41), Leki Fotu (40), practice-squad call-up Ben Stille (33), and Roy Lopez (27).
The Cardinals had far fewer offensive plays (57), and it is interesting to see the tight end breakdown. Zach Ertz remains the top guy (43), but Geoff Swaim (22) was ahead of Trey McBride (19).
Seeing James Conner with only 12 snaps wasn't a good thing, and his knee injury will be in the spotlight this week. Emari Demercado had 44 and Corey Clement zero offensive snaps (although a handful of Rondale Moore's 38 snaps were in the backfield.)
At wideout, Hollywood Brown had 52 snaps and, even though rookie Michael Wilson wasn't targeted much, he did play 43 snaps. Zach Pascal had 10. The partial rotation at left guard continued, with Elijah Wilkinson at 43 snaps and Trystan Colon coming in at 14.
