Raiders week 12 snap counts: DJ Hayden benched, barely sees field on defense

A major questions when TJ Carrie returned to cornerback was which cornerback would be benched or at least move to nickel corner. For Carrie's first two games back, it was he and DJ Hayden who started, with David Amerson moving to nickel. The Raiders discovered after two weeks of that, Amerson deserved the start. But it doesn't end there.

Not only was Hayden benched in favor of Amerson, he was pretty much benched altogether. Hayden wasn't even the nickel corner, that was Neiko Thorpe who played 32 snaps (52%). Hayden saw just 5 snaps (8%) in the game which was the fewest of the cornerbacks to saw any time on defense.

The starters were Carrie, who saw 61 snaps (98%) and Amerson who saw 59 snaps (95%).

Following the game, Jack Del Rio insisted the playing time of the corners had more to do with Amerson earning than Hayden losing the job. Though his drop from starter to barely seeing the field could suggest perhaps it was a combination of the two. Afteral, Amerson's six passes defended in the game matches Hayden's entire season total.

Hayden actually saw more snaps (6) on special teams. His lone stat was a holding penalty on a punt return.

Here are all the Raiders' snap counts:

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