<
        >

          New England Patriots

          Snaps: Ridley's second wind

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterDec 3, 2012, 07:00 AM ET
            Close
              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
            Follow on X

          A look at snaps played by Patriots offensive skill-position players in Sunday's 23-16 win over the Dolphins, while analyzing what it might mean (small margin for error):

          QB Tom Brady -- 79 of 79

          TE Aaron Hernandez -- 79 of 79

          WR Wes Welker -- 75 of 79

          WR Brandon Lloyd -- 60 of 79

          WR Julian Edelman -- 50 of 79

          TE Daniel Fells -- 44 of 79

          RB Stevan Ridley -- 38 of 79

          RB Danny Woodhead -- 27 of 79

          RB Shane Vereen -- 14 of 79

          TE/FB Michael Hoomanawanui -- 4 of 79

          TE Marcus Cannon -- 3 of 79*

          WR Matthew Slater -- 1 of 79

          (Penalties included. Kneeldowns not included.)

          * Snaps credited to him as he came off the sideline, even though he wasn't an eligible receiver -- Nate Solder was.

          ANALYSIS: At running back, Stevan Ridley had 24 of his 38 snaps in the second half. He is the team's closer at the position, a runner who seemingly gets stronger as he gets more work. ... TE Aaron Hernandez was part of every package. ... Daniel Fells served as the second TE for the second straight week. ... Julian Edelman was playing over Brandon Lloyd in two-receiver sets at times as he had played 50 snaps prior to his injury while Lloyd had 45 at that point.