The Cowboys promised changes, and the snap counts from Week 6's 23-13 loss in Green Bay reflect that, at least to a degree.
Offensively, tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford was in on the first snap of the game, enough to technically be listed as the starter over Jake Ferguson. But if Ferguson was in the doghouse over several costly ball-handling blunders in recent weeks, the punishment was short-lived; Ferguson ended up getting more offensive play time than Spann-Ford (though perhaps tellingly, the undrafted free agent was more heavily targeted in the passing game). The increased action for Spann-Ford, though, could be a sign of things to come.
The rotation at wide receiver also got an early reshuffling when KaVontae Turpin went down on the opening kickoff
and never returned; both Ryan Flournoy and Jonathan Mingo saw a few more snaps with the offense than they're used to.
Defense was where the club had teased bigger personnel swaps, after the Cowboys' embarrassing Week 5 loss to Tampa Bay. But once again, the most obvious change seemed to be ceremonial only. Rookie Malachi Lawrence got his first pro start over Donovan Ezeiruaku, but their usage evened out over the course of the night. Again, it's an uptick for Lawrence and a dip for Ezeiruaku, but maybe not as dramatic a shift as was expected.
Joey Porter Jr. suggested in the week leading up to the Lambeau visit that he wouldn't need to be on a pitch count after falling ill on gameday last time out. But then the veteran reportedly rolled an ankle, prompting some to wonder if he'd be a repeat late scratch. Porter ended up playing 36 snaps, just under half the defensive plays, and was seen getting some intermittent attention on the sideline.
Dee Winters snared the Cowboys' first interception of the season but then suffered an Achilles strain after 16 defensive reps. That led to a bump in playtime for linebacker Shemar James, who got a season-high 59 snaps with the defense. Jaishawn Barham also saw his most action of the season as he continued the green-dot duties.
Von Miller's snap count sparked some discussion during the week, with observers split on whether the eight-time Pro Bowler deserved more playing time (in order to make an impact) or less (because he has yet to). Miller's 13 snaps Sunday night were in line with his season average thus far, but he did record his first tackle for loss of 2026.
Juanyeh Thomas outpaced all special-teamers in snaps for the second straight outing, but he saw an increase in his defensive playtime, too, going from one snap versus Tampa Bay to 11 against Green Bay.
Here's how the Cowboys' snaps were distributed in their 23-13 loss at Lambeau.
These snap count figures were the ones published by the league shortly following the game and are considered unofficial. They are subject to change after further film review.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Joey Porter's lagging snap counts, Cowboys switched things up in Wk 6
