Matthews Stays in Middle; Role for Rolle Outside?
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Matthews Stays in Middle; Role for Rolle Outside?
Daily News staff and Les Bowen
Eagles coach Andy Reid said rookie Casey Matthews remains the team's starting middle linebacker, as the Birds prepare to visit Atlanta.
The Eagles' inexperienced linebacking corps was one of the focal points for fans watching an impressive but inconsistent 31-13 season-opening victory at St. Louis. The Birds have made no move to add a linebacker; the only adjustment on the horizon is that nickel linebacker Brian Rolle, also a rookie, seems to think he will get more snaps this week.
The Eagles stayed in their base defense most of the St. Louis game, with the Rams keeping two tight ends in to block. Rolle said he expects more nickel this week, but he also indicated he could be rotating with Moise Fokou at the WIL spot in the base defense.
'The thing I look at is progress, especially with the young players. I felt that was what I saw with all of our young guys," Reid said.
"As a defensive unit, it was a little slow to start; you can expect that, especially the first game of the year, but once we made the adjustments, we felt the second half we came together and shut down what they had for us," Matthews said. "We can always play better. There's always stuff you can learn from."
Rolle said: "I'll probably work into the rotation a little more with the base ... Atlanta has a great quarterback in Matt Ryan; they'll be looking to throw the ball probably 40, 45 times a game, as well, so I'll be out there (in nickel) on those downs."
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Eagles cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie suffered a slight ankle sprain during conditioning and will not practice today, coach Andy Reid said.
Darryl Tapp, who has a pector strain, will not practice. Vince Young (hamstring) continues to improve and remains day-to-day. He also will not practice.
Akeem Jordan, who has a shoulder injury, was listed as a limited participant.
A few other early notes from Reid's press conference:
* Reid said the Eagles' run defense has to be better against Michael Turner and the Falcons. Turner was held to 45 yards on 15 carries last season.
* Reid on Falcons QB Matt Ryan. "He's a great player. Every year they give him a little more and a little more and he gets better."
* On the defensive line: "We have to be better at getting pressure with the front four. I thought one of the positives that came out of the game as the defensive line."
* Asked whether he thought Winston Justice would ever be a starter again, Reid said he was not very good at predicting the future. "Right now it's Herremans' spot ... we'll just see how things go down the road."
*Reid said Michael Vick can't get caught up in the hype about returning to Atlanta, and Reid is confident Vick will focus.
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Some other notes:
* Eagles punter Chas Henry was among those who felt his NFL debut was lacking. Says he'll be better this week.
* In news from Atlanta, defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux is expected to miss 3-5 weeks with partially torn ACL, his agent told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That will not help the Falcons along a defensive line that played without Corey Peters, a starter last year, against Chicago. Coach Mike Smith said Monday that there was hope that Peters would be able to play againt the Eagles. The only other DT on the Falcons' roster with significant experience is Peria Jerry. Peters was listed as limited in practice today.
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- Whether he's slow to start or not, being 27 in November and playing a position where the Bird's are using starters that A. a low level free agent signing in Mathis...and B. a waiver wire acquisition in DeVan...well it's not value and its a dumb pick, especially when a solid three year starter from a well coached school (Wisconsin's Gabe Carimi) is available, and he's a tackle, a position we trie 6 guys at in the summer! And frankly, they could have got Jarrett in the 4rth,maybe 5th round.
— bearsfriend - Chill people, it's a pass happy league. The birds will be fine on D. I'm not saying LB isn't a concern. The team isn't going undefeated and will give up yards on the ground. Once the offense starts clicking they will score quickly and often which takes away the run from most teams. Hard to run a lot when you are behind.— bobf876
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Its sad when its a somehow "good" news that a 230 pound linebacker will be playing more. Also I really love the Vince Young signing. 5.5 million to NOT EVEN PRACTICE. horrible waste of money/roster spot/other- @CharlieGarner25, Did you ever notice that Ovaltine's jar is really round? They should call it "Roundtine". That's gold, Charlie, gold! — XPHAT
- This ' Wide 9 ' thing along the D line , really bnothers me ,, looks good on passing downs but really big ' gaps ' up the middle ,, good teams should be able to Run on us all day , anyone else notice this ?— ingy9
- Comment removed.
- @Marco Islander...there's a reason you're posting on this board and not coaching a pro football team.— cous76
- lol, uh "cous" the same thing can be said about yourself. but I dont come on here and write negative stuff about other posters. what does that accomplish lol, I ONLY say negative stuff about the guy getting paid like 2 MILLION DOLLARS a YEAR to do a job that HE DOESNT EVEN DO RIGHT. and SCREWS UP OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I would have fired him THREE YEARS AGO.
- @greenblood20 you are exactly right. That troll will never post anything positive, he just tries to get people riled up. Ever notice he posts the same thing every day...what a tool.— cous76
- oops....Eagles....1-0. Just pointing that out since most of you seem to be missing that.— ceocreates
- matthews should not be starting middle linebacker. he has not played well once this year (including preseason). andly, howie, please bring in a veteran run stopping middle linebacker...please!— psualum
- Monday, Sep 19th: Andy......'I take full responsibilty for Michael Turner's running for 175 yards. I need to put our players in a better position to execute. The play of our LBs got better as the game went on'— Romus
- Adjustmets in the second half....Give me a break....Strphen Jackson, a stud was hurt and did not play........so thier second team back is no big deal....stop already Andy.....the linebacking doprs stinks and you are guilty of poor player selection and will never admit you failed again....— nuggett
