Only once has Carolina Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn lined up for fewer plays than he did this past Sunday in Detroit. Oh . . . and that one instance saw him leave the game in the first quarter due to injury.
The fourth-year defender played 18 snaps in the 42-24 loss to the Detroit Lions, accounting for just 30 percent of his unit’s looks. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero was asked by FOX Sports Radio’s Sheena Quick if Chinn’s activity (or inactivity) has been due to the flow of the game.
“Yeah, that’s exactly it,” Evero replied. “Specialized packages for him. We’re obviously trying to play him and Troy [Hill] at the nickel position, and then have Jeremy in some of the dime positions. Again, it’s almost comin’ back to the situation on first and second down. Gettin’ more third downs is how we get him on the field, obviously. And then, some of those specialized first- and second-down deals, too. Our execution level, our ability to play the run game better, get into more pass situations is going to allow that to happen.”
Week 5 was not much of an outlier. Chinn has now played 56 percent of the defensive snaps for Carolina this season—a stark regression from his 97 percent in 2020, 99 percent in 2021 and 91 percent in 2022.
As stated by multiple members of the coaching staff this offseason, including Evero himself, Chinn doesn’t really have a strict role for the defense. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder—who has experience as a defensive back and a linebacker—has seen the majority of his work come in the slot.
But until the Panthers start clamping down to force third downs, those counts for Chinn may be staying, well, down.
