Levi Onwuzurike establishes himself as a defensive end

The Detroit Lions had plenty of opportunities to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2. However, those red zone opportunities were squandered time and time again.

The Lions failed to reach the red zone three times and scored just one touchdown on seven total drives. Quarterback Jared Goff was also intercepted deep in Buccaneers territory. The end result was a devastating 20-16 loss in Week 2.

With key players injured, the Lions have been forced to adjust their roster, particularly at receiver and defensive end. That’s resulted in an interesting balance when it comes to snap counts.

Here are five takeaways from the Lions’ snap count in Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers.

Derrick Barnes is a versatile chess piece

The Lions clearly have confidence in Barnes to play a variety of roles within the defense. Whether it’s as a stack linebacker in a traditional 4-3 base defense or as a SAM linebacker, Barnes has shown he can do whatever is asked of him.

Barnes played 45 snaps Sunday, accounting for 94 percent of Detroit’s defensive action. He did it doing a variety of things, including as a pass rusher on the edge as well as his traditional linebacker duties. Detroit distributed his linebacker snaps to five different players.

Alex Anzalone left the game with a brain injury in the third quarter after taking a hit to the head from Barnes while trying to defend a potential Baker Mayfield touchdown. He had played 40 snaps before that. Jack Campbell logged 35 snaps, while Malcolm Rodriguez had 19. Jalen Reeves-Maybin played two snaps defensively in addition to his special teams workload.

Tim Patrick plays an important role

In his first game as a practice squad player, Tim Patrick played a significant role. While he had modest production, with two receptions for 12 yards, the veteran played 33 snaps, which accounted for 39 percent of Detroit’s offensive repetitions.

Patrick played the third-most snaps at receiver, behind Amon-Ra St. Brown (79) and Jameson Williams (78). Kalif Raymond, meanwhile, played 31 snaps. When St. Brown left the game on the final drive, another practice squad call-up, Tom Kennedy, came in and ended up playing five snaps.

The Lions don’t have much depth at receiver since the team decided to keep just four players on the active roster. Patrick’s role suggests he could be ready to be placed on the active roster soon, as the Lions have clearly shown confidence in playing him for a significant number of reps.

DJ Reader’s Modest Workload

In his Lions debut, Reader played just over half of the available snaps. It was an expected workload for the defender, who has spent a lot of time recovering from a quadriceps injury suffered last season. He played 25 snaps, or 52 percent of the defensive repetitions.

Reader made just one tackle in his debut. When he was out, the Lions continued to mix up their defensive interior positions. Alim McNeill played 35 snaps, while rookie Mekhi Wingo had 13. On Tampa Bay’s touchdown pass from Mayfield to Chris Godwin, Wingo nearly reached the passer on a pressure against offensive guard Cody Mauch.

Kyle Peko, who was signed to the active roster earlier in the week, played nine snaps.

Jahmyr Gibbs Nearly Doubles David Montgomery’s Number of Reps

The bulk of the work in the backfield Sunday was done by Gibbs, who played 53 snaps to Montgomery’s 30. Detroit teased a combination of the two backs together, such as on the first play when Gibbs lined up outside and Montgomery in the backfield, but most plays had just one of the two on the field.

Gibbs was used for the majority of the late-game plays, while Montgomery still had his share of carries. Montgomery had more receiving yards, with 35, than Gibbs with 22 on seven receptions. However, Gibbs had 13 carries to Montgomery’s 11.

The workload difference is somewhat puzzling, but it was likely dictated by momentum. Gibbs had just under 6.5 yards per carry, while Montgomery had 3.2. Additionally, Gibbs’ threat as a receiver out of the backfield may have been best suited at the end, as the Lions tried to drive downfield for the deciding score.

Levi Onwuzurike gets most of the snaps at defensive end

With Marcus Davenport out with a groin injury, how the Lions have distributed snaps to his vacancy has been an intriguing story. James Houston has been made active and available, but he has only played three snaps.

The Lions chose Levi Onwuzurike as the starter over Aidan Hutchinson. Onwuzurike played 36 snaps, which accounted for 75 percent of the team’s action. Josh Paschal also logged 13 snaps.

“It’s nice to play a full game, feel good,” Onwuzurike said. “After the game, I feel good, ready to go. That’s how I felt in college, that’s how I felt before. It’s a blessing, 100 percent, thank God, 100 percent. It feels good. I’m just happy to go play a game and no matter what, I can be on the field and play.”

While some of Barnes’ snaps were assigned to edge players, much of the work was done by players like Onwuzurike and Barnes. Houston only had three snaps, a sign that it remains further down the depth chart.