Rolle, Allen to start
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Rolle, Allen to start
Jonathan Tamari and Jeff McLane
Changes have arrived on defense.
Brian Rolle said he has been elevated to first team weak side linebacker and Nate Allen will be starting at safety in place of Kurt Coleman. Linebacker and safety have been glaring weaknesses early in the season.
Rolle, a sixth round pick, has looked more instinctive and aggressive than Casey Matthews, the fourth round selection he'll replace in the starting line up. He is short, however, generously five-foot-10.
Rolle said he will continue to play in some nickel packages as well. Coming in as a sixth round pick who began with limited playing time, Rolle said his goal was to make sure that when he did get on the field, his name was called out.
"Every time you see me on the field you hear my name," Rolle said he told his father this week. "My coaches must have seen that light and felt that I need to be on the field more."
Rolle, a speedy but short linebacker, said he believes he is actually better against the run than he is against the pass. But he said he hopes he gets a chance to take on tight end Vernon Davis this weekend.
"It’s going to be a lot of fun get out there, play in space and hopefully get matched up with Vernon Davis," Rolle said. "Everybody has their weakness. You can be fast, but being fast isn’t everything, it’s all about technique in this league as well."
Rolle has worked at weakside linbacker since training camp, unlike Matthews, who was in the middle until last Wednesday, and showed Sunday he still has learning to do.
Rolle said he wasn't concerned about being a sixth round pick or starting low on the Eagles depth chart.
"I just thought about working hard and letting that pay off and it has," he said.
Allen replaced Coleman Sunday after Coleman missed a tackle, leading to a 74-yard touchdown. He entered training camp as a starter, but was hampered in his recovery from a torn patellar tendon and lost his job to Jarrad Page.
More soon.
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The EAGLES had beaten the GIANTS 6 times in a row before SUNDAY'S disaster. They had always blitzed MANNING to death, but not on SUNDAY. CASTILLO can put in 16 hour days, but if you don't know what you are doing, what good is it? Add REID to that comment.— tudj- 6 and 10 at best, reid must go!!!— JKJ
- The Matthews situation is an interesting one.....because he's Clay Matthews brother there is an assumption he's as good.....we're a Trojan/Pac12 family and saw his career....good yes, Clay Matthews he's not.......Clay was as good as it gets.....Casey isn't him. It's funny how by extension the Ryans are all as good as there father, and how there's so much of this in sports.....Casey isn't Clay and never will be.......just as the Ryans aren't their old man....sports just has way too much of this nepotistic stuff. I hope he turns into Clay but it's not possible.— boasocal
- and Clay had the benefit of the "program" at USC. for further proof look at Cushing, Brian. — coloradoeagle
- Its about time... Matthews isn't NFL ready along with all the other draft picks and it was apparent in preseason... 3 games in, the people running this team finally saw what they fans have been saying since day 1... How can the fans acquire this team like GB is what I'm wondering... Its time to kick these all knowing losers outta town... Its time the fans take over so we can win a super bowl and finally become the Gold Standard they talk about.— Apollo Creed
- Matthews is not ready to be on the field period. Its pitiful to even watch. I want Andy's head on a platter for neglecting this teams glaring weakness. O line and linebackers. Andy's big splash signing all these "star" players is his last ditch attempt to hit the lottery. We need to can AR and get a real coach who doesn't make the same mistakes year after year.— etc757
- Darned if you do... darned if you don't.— Elbarad
- Its about time. Unfortunately it took two losses.— arrowamy
- So Big Red has made 3 decisions directly accountable to him that have failed miserably and are the main reason this "dream team" has the putrid start:
1. Selected an O-line coach to be Defensive Coordinator. Wow, how's that experiment working so far?
2. Got rid of Kolb, advocated for a huge payout to a QB who won't make it through 10 games a season, knowing full well that his O-line can't block girl scouts.
3. Picked a starting MLB based purely on his last name who can't recognize a RB if the RB ran up and hit him. Oh, wait, forgot that said MLB hasn't even been in the same zip code of any RB's yet this year.
So, Lurie loads up team with off-season free agent acquisitions. Now, the spotlight is on Big Red. We as fans now finally get to see whether he can coach and stop plying us with excuses as has been the case over the past 12 years. So far, the verdict is as we always suspected: he sucks! Now, how long will it take for Lurie to understand this?— No5MustGo - Rolle plays like B Dawk used to - flying around and hitting people. Let's hope he's half the player B Dawk was and maybe it'll at least help a bit.
Maybe Matthews can help Andy carry his play chart and challenge flag - two other things he doesn't have a clue about.— PinkstonsStrengthCoach - Oh, and why is Page spared? I would have benched Page over Coleman. And if Jarrett was any good, he would be starting by now.— arrowamy
- Isn't Rolle more suited for the MLB spot? Are they (once again) putting in a LB in the wrong position? How can you have a 5' 9" WLB?— Phront_Runner
- Height means nothing...unless you're a quarterback needing to see over your lineman..He's quick,gets leverage,flys with a high motor, was blue chip in high school and sensational at Ohipo State...Like posted earlier, if it wasn't for the tape, he's a high draft pick...Plus he competes, there's no fear in this guy at all..And this defense, with the exception of Trent Cole,Cullen Jenkins has no swagger or physicality at all. — bearsfriend
- Remember that Seinfeld episode where Kramer starts showing up at the corporate office in a suit (TCB: Taking Care of Business, he tells Jerry when asked what he is doing there). Eventually the boss calls him into his office and tells Kramer he's got to let him go because he doesn't know what his latest report is...the boss says, "Its as though you have absolutely no business training at all." That's how I see Castillo (and Casey)...no business in the position...gotta let em go!— sedale
- @ Phront_Runner - let's not get ahead of ourselves. That move will come in the next week or two when this move fails. Baby steps.— PinkstonsStrengthCoach
