Babin weighs in on Castillo
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Babin weighs in on Castillo
Daily News staff
Eagles defensive end Jason Babin, on his way to his second consecutive Pro Bowl, weighed in on the Juan Castillo situation during an interview with Yahoo's Shutdown Corner.
Like many around the Eagles, he pointed to the improvement at the end of the season rather than the hole that the team dug for itself by blowing those fourth-quarter leads.
"Early on, Castillo was more or less a transition, when you go from offensive line coach to coordinator, you're doing more than just coaching; you're creating a style, a system," Babin said. "So that can take time. It took a little longer to work out than we would have liked and I'm sure he would have liked. I think there was a lot of growing going on and that's what makes him good as a coach. He listened, we listened — we all learned."
Babin also said the players fully expected Andy Reid to return as coach.
"None of us saw it going any other way and we expected coach Reid back, that was the player perspective," he said. "We weren't on the roller coaster of the media, the fans."
Babin said the Eagles went from "ok to friggin good" at the end of the season and despite the disappointment, the onus is the on the players, not the coaches.
"I think we found answers on both sides of the ball, answers we can take to next year," he said. "We had the ability, the talent, everything was there. You can't get mad at the coaches. We went out there and just didn't play that well. Could we have gotten it done? Absolutely. I feel we can do better as we get ready for this next season."
OK! If not Juan, then WHO? How about the GREAT fired Rams coach with three straight losing seasons along with 3 bottom of the barrel defensive stats to boot and all worse than Juan's 1st year. The old Jim Johnson defensive schemes are DEAD- just ask Carolina. New defensive schemes need time, reps and instruction. Juan and the team will be ready next year, but I also share a strong desire for an animal linebacker from Alabama and not some slowpoke puny pretender from BC with inflated stats because his teammates could not tackle.— mike43- we ended the season with the same record as the NY 'ginas. you look at what they are doing in the playoffs and you have to believe we could be doing at least as well as they are had we slipped in instead of them. i think because of the strong finish at the end of the year, i am okay with giving reid and castillo another look to see what they can do.— zwarte piet
- Try telling the Dallas Cowboys their defense was no good. In my opinion, much of the problem was turnovers by the offense at horrible moments.— Lockyer
- Jason Babin has earned the right to say what he wants. Babin has flourished in the wide 9. The wide 9 philosophy calls for the d-linemen to get across the line of scrimmage. Wide 9 D linemen don't always see what is happening behind them. Herein is the problem with Babin's analysis. The Eagles LB corps is not ready for prime time! The group lacks 1st string talent. Brian Rolle is the best of the bunch and he brings it. No one in their right mind believes the Eagles can win next year without upgrades at Lb. Did anyone say vontaze burfict?— reveugene
- zwarte - Eagles 8-8 Giants 9-7...unless my math is wrong....and why would you think this team that didn't beat a team with a winning record all year long (except for beating a sliding Giants team in week 11) would beat any team in the playoffs? SF already embarrassed us once this year and Green Bay would pick us apart. Imagine playing NE again - one spanking is enough this year. Even Baltimore with their weak offense would smack this Eagles team!— gdibig
- JASON WHERE IS FAT ANDREW.— Pete60
- The defensive leadership was provided by a non physical showboat cornerback who was given the job by default. Your leadership must come from a physical player with the heart of a warrior. If ya ain't got one , go get one.
— Eddie Spaghetti - London Fletcher!— DavezMental.Com
- Fletcher's a good player but he's 36 years old and will turn 37 in May and he's only 5-10. I've had my fill of smurfs on this team. I'd rather the Eagles draft a player in the upcoming draft that's been mentioned frequently...Vontaze Burfict, 6-3 / 250lbs. Young, big and strong, and with a "HIGH MOTOR." — essell
- If Babin manned up and became a "follow me" type of leader on the defense maybe they wouldn't be home watching the playoffs. ijs— NC Eagle Fan
- I'll agree with the popular opinion that the Eagles need a new middle linebacker...But not with idea of wiping out the entire linebacking corps...Chaney played well during the second half of the season and will only improve when put back at his natural SAM position and Rolle was the teams best linebacker all year...I don't agree with scrapping the safety spots either. Nate Allen will be much better once he's 100% healthy and Coleman played well the second half of the season...Although Jarrett could be a bust...Maybe you bring in another FS to create some competition...I say get Jack Del Rio as DC and bring his boy Kirk Morrision in to play the Mike...Done deal!— MrMiles1
- Looks like Chaney played with a neck injury, easy to determine why he was less of a factor than last season. Rolle looked damn good when he got a shot. I would give Clayton a chance to start, he is blazing fast, covers like a safety, and hits like a truck. I would rather have fast defenders who gang tackle than fat slow slugs who's only chance is if they hit the hole just right.— Paul SoTX
- Well said Mike43.— chuck60
- We are good against the riffraff but will get blown out by the elite teams with intelligent, flexible gameday coaches.— cm3737
- Of course Babin wants Castillo to return, he registered 18 sacks under Castillo's defensive game plan.— drakisst
