Each week I’ll be taking a closer look at the snap count distribution for the Bucs offense and defense, assessing what we can learn from who played the most and who played the least on Sunday.

Rookie wide receiver Tyler Johnson out-snapping Scotty Miller was the big surprise from the night, as another clear indicator that Miller was not 100 percent for this game. Miller wasn’t targeted, while Johnson caught four passes for 61 yards – all in the first half. Even Cyril Grayson and Jaydon Mickens contributed more offensively than Miller did on Thursday night, as Mickens caught two passes for 22 yards and Grayson drew a 16-yard pass interference penalty down the sideline.

Tight end Cameron Brate stepped right into O.J. Howard’s role, for better or for worse. The issue with deploying so much 13 personnel is that Brate and Tanner Hudson aren’t positive contributors in the run game, and aren’t better than many of the Bucs’ other skill players in the pass game. With Tampa Bay dealing with so many injuries at wide receiver, perhaps the team felt most comfortable running Hudson out there for 16 snaps.

At running back, Leonard Fournette saw the field for just one snap, the end of the first half kneel-down. Rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn managed to drop a pass and fumble another in 18 snaps, continuing a season-long trend of Bucs running backs being a black hole in the passing game. Ronald Jones II led the way on Thursday night with snaps and should continue to do so, having perhaps his best overall game as a Buccaneer with 106 yards rushing and three catches for 19 yards.

Really no surprises on defense, as the top 12 basically went the distance without much reprieve until nose tackle Vita Vea’s ugly ankle injury. Rakeem Nunez-Roches closed out the game in his place, and will be an every down starter for the rest of the season if Vea is indeed finished.

Second-year outside linebacker Anthony Nelson continues to ride the snap count roller coaster. After playing 26 snaps in Week 3, Nelson managed just seven in Week 4 before doubling that on Thursday night. He’s splitting his time pretty evenly between subbing for Shaq Barrett and for Jason Pierre-Paul, a good indicator that the latter is fairly healthy despite missing a lot of practice time this season.