Nathan Shepherd had been getting a little bit of playing time throughout the season, averaging 17.3 snaps per game (23.3% of the team’s defensive plays on average) over his first 11 appearances, but he was unable to produce efficiently in his limited role. Through Week 14, Shepherd had two pressures over 99 pass-rush snaps (2.0% rate) and two run stops over 90 run defense snaps (2.2%), via Pro Football Focus.
Over the past two weeks, Shepherd has seen his playing time spike due to the absences of Folorunso Fatukasi (at Los Angeles) and Quinnen Williams (vs.