Bowles to D: "We're not going to be predictable"
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Bowles to D: "We're not going to be predictable"
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Todd Bowles met with his defense for the first time Monday and the Eagles' new defensive coordinator didn't announce many changes in scheme, players said, but he did say one thing was going to be different.
"The biggest thing he said was we're not going to be predictable anymore," linebacker Casey Matthews said.
Several other players echoed Matthews' account of the meeting, held on the first day the Eagles gathered since last Monday, a day before Andy Reid fired Juan Castillo and promoted Bowles. While the defense will remain essentially as is with the same starting unit, several players said, there will be natural changes with a new man in charge.
"Things are going to be a little different," Matthews said. "Obviously, he's a totally different type of coach than Juan. Juan was a little more fiery. Todd's laid back, but he knows what he's talking about."
Bowles was hired in January to be the defensive backs coach, but players at other defensive positions said that they had gotten to know the coach over the last ten months. Mostly, they said they respected him based on his experience as a coach and a player.
"He was the interim head coach of the Dolphins last year," Matthews said. "He's been around. He's well-respected. I think that's one thing, as a player, he's been on the defensive side for a while. Juan came over from the offense so a lot of people, especially vets, you don't know if they're qualified."
Some have wondered if Bowles has plans to blitz more since the defensive line has had trouble getting pressure.
"He said he's not here to revamp the defense," Matthews said. "We're still running the same stuff. He just wants us to play together and take it back to training camp days -- basic fundamentals, getting extra work after practice or getting in your playbook."
Defensive end Jason Babin was evasive when asked about Bowles.
"I'm not a football guy. I don't know much about him," Babin said. "Shows up on time, works hard."
Babin was asked if he had a reaction when the Eagles announced Tuesday that Bowles would replaced the fired Castillo.
"I've been doing this for nine years now," Babin said. "Kind of have to be numb to the goings-ons."
In other news on the defensive side of the ball, defensive tackle Mike Patterson practiced, as expected. The Eagles have three weeks to decide if they want to activate Patterson or he will have to be placed on season-ending Injured Reserve.
Safety Nate Allen (hamstring) did not practice but he said that he would be ready to play Sunday against the Falcons.
What would Casey Matthews know about the defense?
How to warm a bench maybe?— narkose3535- "I'm not a football guy." Wow.— Zee77
- Of all the defensive players they interview Matthews.....I didnt even know the guy was still on the team! BUST!!!!!!!!!!!!— PhillyTerm
- that was probably the only player they could get— trimski1
- OK, then. Unpredictable defense,completely predictable offense. Sounds like a winning combination.
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"Juan was a little more fiery. Todd's laid back, BUT he knows what he's talking about." This just cracks me up.
- Sounds like Babin was not in agreement with Castillo's firing.— dlscholt
- Why don't all you armchair general managers give it a break, Matthews didn't draft himself. You want to come down on somebody come down on Reid, the worst talent evaluator we've had in a generation. Casey Matthews is a good special teams player and that's all he is. Not his fault where he was drafted.— bigtbone
- Although I agree with you regarding Matthews, I am in complete disagreement about Reid being the "worst talent evaluator we've had in a generation." He has missed on occasion, sure, but he has also drafted arguably the two best runningbacks we have seen in a generation, if not ever. Equally notable, he did draft the most successful quarterback the franchise has ever had, even Didinger agrees with this point. Desean must not be that bad either considering everyone clamored for his resigning. It is easy to count the misses; I could do that with every team via Google. Was Kotite, Rhoades, Buddy, etc. superb evaluating talent on both sides of the football? — Stilldiesel11
- Reid was here 3 times as long as those guys you mentioned, so I hope in that time Reid would be able to draft a few good players. For total quality players, he cannot match the players Rhoades and Buddy drafted in their short time here. — watsonmr
- Point well taken and a statistic I always raise whenever I read a post declaring that Reid is the "winningest" coach the Eagles ever had. Well, it's because Reid has been here LONGER than any other coach the Eagles ever had. Odds are in his favor that he is, or should, win a lot of games in FOURTEEN long agonizing years. Give Gruden fourteen years and the Eagles should have at least four Super Bowl trophies. — essell
- i'm not here to stick up for reid; quite frankly i think he's been stealing paychecks for a few years now. but to say that reid is the "worst talent evaluator" in a generation is complete BS. westbrook? mcnabb? todd herremans? desean and jeremy? trent cole? lito and sheldon?
— AlexSp - Look when the Birds started going downhill-when Trotter, then Dawkins left. Why? Because Reid won't draft anyone with fire. Those guys and Tre Thomas and others were brought in before Reid. McNabb was decent, but no leader. The only one with a little bit of heart was Westbrook. Andy wants choirboys. What's happened to Herremans this year? Lito and Sheldon were okay, not great.There's not one player on this team that will get in somebody's face. For the last couple of years all we hear from the players is how good they are, they just haven't put it together yet. They won't. — mike l
- Patience is key here. Next year we will have a new head coach, hopefully one that can assemble all this talent and gel it into a unit that can once again compete at high levels
— stardog
