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          NFL Nation

          Solving the mystery of Patriots OL Joe Thuney and the missing snap

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterOct 25, 2016, 09:35 AM ET
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The mystery has been solved in the case of New England Patriots starting left guard Joe Thuney and the "missing snap."

          In ESPN.com's weekly Patriots snap-count analysis from Sunday's 27-16 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Thuney was recorded to have played 56 of 57 snaps. The missing snap stood out among the team's other four starting offensive linemen and sparked the question: If Thuney wasn't on the field, who was there in his place?

          A screenshot of the NFL's player participation records from the game, taken by Miguel Benzan of Patscap.com, highlights Thuney's missing snap:

          After 24 hours of detective work, here is what has been learned: Thuney's missing snap was an honest error by the hard-working folks who record player participation at games, and that will be corrected as the real-time stats are matched with game film. Just as players, coaches and reporters covering games make mistakes from time to time, so do statisticians.

          So the weekly snap-count post -- which can provide important insight on how coaches are utilizing personnel -- has been updated to reflect this change.

          By restoring the snap, Thuney has now played in 100 percent of the team's offensive snaps this season, instead of 99.9 percent.

          It's a small detail, but an important one to correct.