It's time for our weekly look at the snap count totals for the San Francisco 49ers. Here are some playing time observations from the team's Week 5 road loss against the Indianapolis Colts. Below is a list of reps for each player, broken down by phase of the game.
- For the first time this season, Matt Breida (35 reps) out-snapped Pierre Garçon (33 snaps). Kyle Shanahan said it had nothing to do with Hyde's injured hip. Instead, the 49ers head coach elected to stick with Breida's hot hand for a majority of the second half.
Breida carried the ball 10 times for 49 yards and caught three passes for 22 yards. All of those numbers either tied or set new career highs. Hyde was limited to just 11 yards on eight carries and one catch for seven yards.
- Brock Coyle's 25 snaps were a season-high. Shanahan shared postgame that the plan was to have NaVorro Bowman sit for a few series in order to keep him in fresh. That opened the door for Coyle to play much more as Bowman's backup. Bowman (58 snaps) led the 49ers with 10 tackles. Coyle chipped in with two tackles and a half sack. Ray-Ray Armstrong rotated out more than normal as well, playing 57 of a possible 76 defensive snaps.
- Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt were the only two players to play all 76 defensive snaps.
- Ahkello Witherspoon made his NFL debut in Week 5. Unfortunately, he was limited to six snaps before leaving with a concussion. Witherspoon was the victim of an illegal block in the back during the first half.
- DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead were playing similar snap counts during the first few games. Now Armstead has been rotating much more in recent weeks. Here's the playing time rundown among 49ers defensive linemen: Buckner (67), Solomon Thomas (66), Armstead (53), Earl Mitchell (47), Eli Harold (24), Aaron Lynch (22), Elvis Dumervil (22), D.J. Jones (16) and Xavier Cooper (12).
- Trent Taylor played less than 50 percent of snaps (35-of-72). That's a sign that the 49ers limited their use of three receiver sets in order to give Pierre Garçon more help with extra pass protection.
