DETROIT — When Ryan Mathews fumbled the ball away late in Sunday's 24-23 loss to the Lions, Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner were on the sideline watching.

Like they were almost all game.

Now, it's hard to blame Doug Pederson for going with a veteran and his biggest running back on that carry, but Smallwood and Barner barely played all afternoon.

Both running backs got just one offensive snap apiece after running extremely well in the last game against the Steelers. Against Pittsburgh, Smallwood carried the ball 17 times for 79 yards and a touchdown and Barner carried the ball eight times for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Neither got a carry on Sunday.

Why did Mathews and Darren Sproles get all the carries on Sunday?

"Just the way of the game plan, the way the game plan went," head coach Doug Pederson said.

All offensive linemen and Carson Wentz played all 61 snaps, while Jordan Matthews got 57 and Zach Ertz got 52.

The trend of Dorial Green-Beckham's role in the offense growing continued against the Lions. He had 32 snaps (52 percent) against the Lions. He's gone from 32 percent to 46 to 49 to 52.

On defense, the thing that stands out is the increase in snaps for linebacker Mychal Kendricks. After playing just nine snaps against the Steelers, Kendricks played 26 (43 percent) on Sunday. While Kendricks hasn't been in on the nickel package this year, he was at times on Sunday and he didn't play well. For some reason, Jim Schwartz's linebacker rotation had Kendricks and Stephen Tulloch in the nickel package for an entire series.

Pederson said Nigel Bradham's lack of first-half snaps was not discipline related. They just thought it was a good idea to get Kendricks and Tulloch extended snaps.

Vinny Curry had just 16 of 61 defensive snaps against the Lions, continuing the trend of Curry as the clear third option at defensive end. Brandon Graham played 53 snaps and Connor Barwin played 52.

Through four games, here's a look at snap counts for the Eagles' top three defensive ends: Barwin 176, Graham 168, Curry 90. Curry did pick up his first sack on Sunday, but despite his new contract, he's the third option.

Because Leodis McKelvin (hamstring) and Ron Brooks (cramps) missed some time, Jalen Mills got 24 snaps and Jaylen Watkins got 11.

Here's a full look at snap counts from Sunday:

Offense

Allen Barbre, 61 snaps, 100 percent

Lane Johnson, 61, 100

Jason Peters, 61, 100

Jason Kelce, 61, 100

Brandon Brooks, 61, 100

Carson Wentz, 61, 100

Jordan Matthews, 57, 93

Zach Ertz, 52, 85

Nelson Agholor, 48, 79

Darren Sproles, 34, 56

Dorial Green-Beckham, 32, 52

Ryan Mathews, 25, 41

Brent Celek, 23, 38

Josh Huff, 18, 30

Trey Burton, 11, 18

Matt Tobin, 3, 5

Wendell Smallwood, 1, 2

Kenjon Barner, 1, 2

Defense

Nolan Carroll, 61 snaps, 100 percent

Malcolm Jenkins, 61, 100

Rodney McLeod, 61, 100

Brandon Graham, 53, 87

Fletcher Cox, 53, 87

Connor Barwin, 52, 85

Jordan Hicks, 48, 79

Nigel Bradham, 48, 79

Bennie Logan, 46, 75

Ron Brooks, 38, 62

Leodis McKelvin, 34, 56

Mychal Kendricks, 26, 43

Jalen Mills, 24, 39

Vinny Curry, 16, 26

Stephen Tulloch, 15, 25

Jaylen Watkins, 11, 18

Marcus Smith, 8, 13

Beau Allen, 8, 13

Destiny Vaeao, 8, 13