Linebacker by Committee?
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Linebacker by Committee?
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Several interesting developments from Friday's final real practice before the Eagles' season opener Sunday at Cleveland. The most interesting might have been Andy Reid's announcement that he plans to play all six of his linebackers --- not just on special teams, as you would expect, but in the defense.
This helps explain a dizzying back and forth in practice the past few days, with Jamar Chaney in the nickel, for example, along with Mychal Kendricks Thursday, and DeMeco Ryans back in Chaney's spot Friday, and Casey Matthews and Brian Rolle involved in other packages, along with starter Akeem Jordan.
Kendricks hinted at something like this Thursday, but reporters were more focused on an apparent increased role for Chaney, who was bothered by a hamstring during the preseason. Friday, Reid said he plans to rotate his linebackers, much as he (or, supposedly, Juan Castillo) does his defensive linemen.
"We had success with [using linebackers situationally] toward the end of last year. Guys know their role and can focus in on it. They're all interchangeable, which is a good thing. They all know each other's position and have gotten reps at all the positions," Reid said.
Reid said he didn't think constantly shuffling linebackers in and out, in addition to d-linemen, would hurt consistency or flow. (Let's see an opponent go no-huddle; Andy's theory will get a nice test.)
Reid insisted this shuffle was not a commentary on the play of new middle linebacker Ryans, brought in to play three downs and eliminate the constant shuffle.
"I've been very happy with DeMeco. I'm giving everybody an opportunity," Reid said.
Other tidbits:
*The only Eagles not healthy enough to play Sunday are the ones previously announced -- wideout Riley Cooper (collarbone) and safety/special teams ace Colt Anderson (knee).
*Seems possible rookie running back Bryce Brown will get some touches, after an impressive preseason. LeSean McCoy compared Brown's running style to that of Bo Jackson. Asked about this, Brown, born in 1991, had no idea who Bo Jackson was.
*McCoy acknowledged he will miss having Jason Peters running in front of him, far beyond the line; King Dunlap probably won't be blocking at the second level that much.
Good idea for them all to play. But never out-scheme yourself. That's what Castillo did the first half of last year, and that's what McDermott did.— armchairGM- We all know Andy will go down in flames trying to outsmart the league. All those guys playing means none are dominant. No dominant LBs, spells trouble eventually. Probably in a high stakes game that eliminates them from contention. Past is prologue— rustypop58
- Translation: Ryans has disappointed thus far.— p-diddy
- If I'm coaching against the Birds, I'm going no huddle a LOT. Lol...— eaglefaninAZ
- 6-10 this year. They will be ranked no higher than 20th against the run. Vick hurt by game three. Fat Andy -- FIRED!— Lttim76(2)
- 6-10 this year sounds about right.— BobSG
- I was optimisitic after the raft this year. That changd to cautioslyoptimistic during OT's and taining camp. I was still hopefl during the pre-season. I'm losing faith real fast. Andy is Andy and I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Also, Juan is Juan and that's not going to get any better. 8 and 8 might just happen again— Unstable1
- Trent Richardson...175 yards.— Romus
- Having all these linebackers play...means Eagles don't have 3 good ones.— phil500
- I haven't heard or read a WORD about Ryans, other than he's a leader and good presence in the locker room.
Usually when someone underperforms, one hears about it with philadelphian overstatement: e.g. "stinks to high heaven," "doesn't belong in the league," "should be demoted to water boy...." etc.
Any knowledgable fans who have seen him play have an analysis of his preseason showing?— doc35 - Hey Andy, Howie, Lurie, anybody, do you know what to look for in a good linebacker?? A lot of SIZE and NASTINESS. Nobody cares if the guy was a standout student in college or a model citizen in his community. Linebackers have to be the craziest guys on the team. In fact, a criminal record or a light history of violence may not hurt. You have to draft or sign BIG guys that want to go out and hurt somebody(Vilma). It's just how the game is played. Speed is important and brains don't hurt either, but I seriously doubt Ray Lewis was the valedictorian at his high school. BIG, STRONG, AND NASTY and the Eagles surprisingly have ZERO players that fit this build.— joey687
- The fact that neither A.R. Or Juan Castillo have ANY defensive experience shows you what a dumb move this is. No huddle will rip this genius pplan apart
- This is the reason why it's hard to get excited about this team. I was starting to feel good about them, now we have a story about linebacking by committee. And Reid says this isn't an indictment of Ryans. It most obviously is. Seriously, if Ryans had put on a Mike Singletary clinic during camp, there's no way Reid would be doing this. What this decision means is that, just like the vast majority of his tenure here, they can't find three linebackers who can actually play. This means that they have no shot to compete for a title. And this means that this year will be more of the same. I am not a Reid hater, but isn't it time they finally got someone in here who can learn from past experience? They trade for a guy coming off an injury and who had a subpar year, then the guy proceeds to be subpar because he isn't the same player after his injury. How many times do they need to learn this lesson before it sinks in? Also, why can't these guys figure out how to put together a linebacking group? If you're not good at it, hire someone to concentrate exclusively on picking linebackers in the draft. You will never have any shot to win anything until you have linebackers who can play. I mean come on with this stuff. Every year it's the same nonsense.— Hemingway
- UNLIKE YOU ERNEST, I AM A REID HATER (HIS DRAFT DAY INCOMPETENCE IS KILLING THIS TEAM). BUT AS YOU WROTE, I TOO AM SICK THAT "Every year it's the same nonsense." THIS UPCOMING 4 - 12 DISASTER OF A SEASON HOPEFULLY WILL BE REID'S LAST. — bedpan
- I can easily envision more dumb penalties with all this shuffling on the defense. They will either have too many players on the field or they will get mixed up with assignments and throw in lining up off sides. The coaches aren't good enough to make this work. I predict a minimum of 12 penalties for over 100 yards.— fanup
