A look at the snaps played by Patriots defenders through four games and what it means (includes penalties; small margin for error):
CB Devin McCourty – 273 of 273 (100 percent)
LB Jerod Mayo – 269 of 273 (98.5 percent)
S Patrick Chung – 256 of 273 (93.8 percent)
OLB Tully Banta-Cain – 226 of 273 (82.8 percent)
S James Sanders – 203 of 273 (74.4 percent)
DL Vince Wilfork – 186 of 273 (68.1 percent)
S Brandon Meriweather – 156 of 273 (57.1 percent)
CB Darius Butler – 153 of 273 (56 percent)
DL Mike Wright -- 138 of 273 (50.5 percent)
OLB Rob Ninkovich – 137 of 273 (50.2 percent)
CB Jonathan Wilhite – 131 of 273 (48 percent)
OLB Jermaine Cunningham – 130 of 273 (47.6 percent)
CB Kyle Arrington – 116 of 273 (42.5 percent)
DL Myron Pryor – 116 of 273 (42.5 percent)
DL Gerard Warren – 116 of 273 (42.5 percent)
ILB Brandon Spikes – 110 of 273 (40.3 percent)
ILB Gary Guyton – 109 of 273 (39.9 percent)
DL Ron Brace – 90 of 273 (33 percent)
S Jarrad Page – 43 of 273 (15.8 percent)
DL Brandon Deaderick – 20 of 273 (7.3 percent)
OLB Shawn Crable – 9 of 273 (3.3 percent)
OLB Marques Murrell – 7 of 273 (2.6 percent)
DL Kyle Love – 6 of 273 snaps (2.2 percent)
ILB Dane Fletcher – 2 of 273 (0.7 percent)
S Randy Moss – 1 of 273 (0.4 percent)
ANALYSIS: Devin McCourty, the team’s first-round pick, is a surprise performer at the top of the list. Entering training camp, there was a question of who would win the job at left cornerback – McCourty or Darius Butler? McCourty seized it. … Jerod Mayo is the only true three-down player in the front seven, coming off the field sparingly, if at all. … While Tully Banta-Cain hasn’t been playing as much in the base 3-4 defense, his playing time total remains high because of how often the Patriots are in sub packages. … Brandon Meriweather played 95 percent of the snaps last season, so his numbers are down this year. … Jermaine Cunningham’s progression of snaps looks like this – 26, 23, 28 and 53. If this is a sign of things to come, expect to see more of him on the field in the coming weeks. … Veteran defensive lineman Gerard Warren has been an early down player, coming off the field in passing situations. … Rookie inside linebacker Brandon Spikes and third-year inside linebacker Gary Guyton have combined to form one player – Spikes on early downs, Guyton in passing situations.