After a rough outing against the Cardinals, the Falcons reduced safety Richie Grant’s playtime in the 24-15 win over the Saints on Sunday.
Grant, who played 95% (Cardinals), 100% (Vikings), 100% (Titans) and 100% (Bucs) of the defensive snaps over the previous four games played just 75% (54 of 72 defensive snaps) against the Saints.
The Falcons used rookie Demarcco Hellams more as he played 38 defensive snaps (53%) and cornerback Tre Flowers played eight defensive snaps (11%).
Falcons coach Arthur Smith acknowledged the rotation after the game.
“I think people want to get you in so much (nickel) defense,” Smith said. “They weren’t playing a lot of heavy personnel on some of their tight end package. It felt little. That’s a lot of the NFL right now.
“So, people do that, then they try to get the smaller guys into the run fits. You’re just trying to change it up, putting guys in spots where you think you can maximize them. And that’s a credit to DeMarcco as well. Even you saw Tre (Flowers) go out there a little bit too.”
Here’s a look at the playtime chart from the game:
Player offense special teams
C Lindstrom RG 62 100% 4 17%
J Matthews LT 62 100% 4 17%
K McGary RT 62 100% 4 17%
M Bergeron LG 62 100% 4 17%
D Dalman C 62 100%
D Ridder QB 62 100%
D London WR 52 84%
B Robinson RB 39 63%
K Pitts TE 31 50%
K Hodge WR 27 44% 9 38%
S Miller WR 24 39% 6 25%
P Hesse TE 23 37% 8 33%
V Jefferson WR 22 35%
J Smith TE 22 35%
T Allgeier RB 18 29%
M Pruitt TE 16 26% 6 25%
C Patterson RB 16 26% 6 25%
K Smith FB 11 18% 14 58%
C Blair WR 9 15% 10 42%
Player defense special teams
C Campbell DE 46 64% 10 42%
D Onyemata DT 46 64% 6 25%
K Street DT 37 51%
T Graham DT 23 32% 6 25%
A Huggins DT 23 32%
Z Harrison DE 24 33% 7 29%
A Ebiketie OLB 25 35% 1 4%
L Carter OLB 20 28% 6 25%
B Dupree OLB 50 69%
K Elliss ILB 72 100%
N Landman ILB 53 74% 7 29%
A Smith ILB 2 3% 20 83%
A Terrell CB 72 100%
J Okudah CB 64 89%
J Bates FS 71 99%
R Grant SS 54 75% 9 38%
D Hellams SS 38 53% 13 54%
D Alford CB 46 64% 12 50%
M Hughes CB 18 25% 1 4%
T Flowers CB 8 11% 20 83%
Player special teams only
M Abernathy FS 20 83%
D Malone LB 18 75%
B Pinion P 11 46%
L McCullough LS 6 25%
K Hinton G 4 17%
S Norton T 4 17%
R Neuzil C 4 17%
Y Koo K 4 17%
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