Bowles to D: "We're not going to be predictable"
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Bowles to D: "We're not going to be predictable"
Jeff McLane
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.
Comments (45)
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.
-
"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 - sounds like Babin has a bad attitude— pr0f3ss0r
- 13th ranked defense when your offense turns the ball over more then anyone else, not going to be that easy to improve on.— Sidewinder7
- Scrap the wide nine and let Bowles institute his plan. Should have returned Juan as O line coach and let Mudd and Washbun ride off into the sunset on their Harleys. Those two old guys were great coaches once but maybe the game has passed them by. Marty is next followed soon by Vick and eventually Big Red. It's getting stale around here.— mortt1956
- Same thoughts I had a few days ago when Castillo was fired. Fire Mudd, reinstate Castillo as OL coach, install Bowles as DC. That seemed to be the more practical move but, as usual, Reid continues along his utterly awe-inspiring, meandering, erratic, and totally befuddling course as he has for FOURTEEN tortuous seemingly limitless years. — essell
- I like the fact that he said they weren't going to be predictable ANYMORE. Juan's inability to disguise his D was one of the biggest problems. I'm glad that Bowles acknowledges this and has indicated up front that thats the #1 thing to work on. That alone might make this D a little better, maybe even allow some guys to make a few big plays. Hope springs eternal. And I agree that none of this will make a whit of difference unless the offense starts improving.— Zee77
- yawn ...
Vick is still the QB and Reid still the head coach. That's all we need to know. Castillo just another scapegoat.— Bradley85 
Comment removed.- You're new defensive coordiantor Todd "Cereal" Bowles.— neddyflanders
- Here's one thing that is predictable - they won't smack anyone in the mouth. where have you gone Bill bergey, Wes Hopkins, Bill Bradley, Andre Waters, Seth Joyner, etc....— TheOnionPeeler
- lets hope so...— briman
- We could afford to lose Babin. He's whining and pouting like a baby. He needs to play some ball. I havent heard his name called in three weeks! Send him to Cleveland for some draft picks...IJS— NC Eagle Fan
- Gee sharky your about as negative in the sports section as you are in the editorials, and just as clueless. "Blitz is all they know." One of the complaints that many have is that they don't is that they don't blitz as much as they use to and rely on pressure from the front four. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of your rants.— John Klink
- At least Bowles has a pedigree as a defensive coach in the NFL. Gotta give him a chance to see what he can do. They will be playing against some good QB's in the upcoming weeks, so the results to this move will be answered in the next few weeks.— watsonmr
- Did a professional football player really say "I'm not a football guy"? Where do we find these guys?— ANDY-IS-FAT
- We clearly know Babin is not a footballl guy. A football guy could actually slow down a running game. Lets send him and the wide 9 scam back where it belongs.— killamagilla
- Babin is pretty sassy for a one trick pony who overall is a defensive liability. Who cares what he thinks ? Next year he is gone. Casey talks a lot for a guy who should not be in the NFL. His best play ? Jumping around the pile like he actually did something. There is a special teams guy somewhere out there out of a job because of that clown. We need smart, disciplined guys who can tackle. Not show boats and a back up LB who acts like he is an All Pro for 9 years.— oldBird
- Babin is numb when it comes to tackling running backs and lately QBs,— oldBird
- I hate to say, but I think Reid is finished in Philly. The coaching staff is a mess both on offense,defense and special teams . The drafting has been terrible for years now, and watching these guys make blunder after blunder on the field week after week without being taken out of the game, is ridiculous. I don't know if they can turn it around, but if they don't, Reid, the coaching staff, and Vick, should go.— Ron
- This years draft was pretty darn good, but if Reid goes, he'll look at the two years preceding drafts as what cost him his job, as well as the Vick decision (though the way Vick played in the beginning, thats a decision many coaches would have made.)— airbuzz
- I think the O-line adapted to the wide 9. That's the problem!— cm3737
- I agree with the others-- the OFFENSE is predictable. Unbelievably predictable! Play 1- Deep Pass, Play 2- telegraphed run, Play 3- sack or fumble. No screen passes, no slants, no varied runs, no two back sets (worked against the Gina's; why not use it again SMH), There aren't many people around who can replace Big Red, but I'd love to see Vick n Marty gone. This team should be 0-6.— John Dealoni
- I could care less if Babin likes Bowles or if he's even on the team next year...what I care about is results NOW. It will be obvious on Sunday who wants to win and who's mad because they fired Juan. The Falcons game will tell us all we need to know as fans about the rest of the season. Even if the D sufficates Atlanta's offense,if Marty draws yp the SOS with his game plan then it'll be the same old sorry result.— greenbloodVAEagle
- Reid's vaunted offense stinks, now he is messing with the defense in hopes it can help bail out his crummy offense with turnovers. It won't work. Reid has made too many packs with the devil.— Taser
- "Although I am stuck with the Wide 9, I will be unpredictable"— Bobphxville
- Will the offence still be predictable?— Realtor in Orlando
- "The biggest thing he said was we're not going to be predictable anymore," linebacker Casey Matthews said.
Now if that isn't an oblique bit.. slap, what is?— essell 
They already ARE unpredictable. They predicted a great season.- Sounds like a big Bowles movement taking place in the locker room.— dasher
- Yes, Gruden is good at winning with other coaches players. Tony Dungy would have won in Tampa like he won in Indy but haters hate Black players and coaches. Only in Philadelphia.....— allworld2
- Todd Bowles, Temple Owl, pretty fair Safety for the Redskins as I recall, he had a bye week to tweak what was already installed, so don't think you are seeing his system for this talent for a while, if at all this season. Maybe Matthews is excited because he's a part of that "unpredictability". As for the comment, what would Matthews know about football? I say, probably plenty, since he was probably like most kids wondering from one unit to another during Dad's practices. He has been in a football environment since he was born! So, even if he can't "play" (and that hasn't been proven yet), he probably knows a helluva lot about FOOTBALL. Babin may have been in mourning for the Wide 9 formation (hope they are junking that as a primary set) and thinking about those BIG Tackles he'll have to confront instead of the wide track meet stance and sprint he has been use to. Then again maybe he just liked Juan! A man by all accounts who is a talented, hardworking and likable O-line coach. That Andy decided could coach Defense and then threw him under the bus when the OFFENSE turned the ball over or ran their Vaunted 3 & out schemes. Giving the D no rest and short fields to defend!!! Look in the mirror Andy, there you will find your biggest problem. Too stubborn to run the ball with one of the top 5 backs in the league. West Coast Offense? Where are those quick hitting 7 yard slants that Rice and Taylor routinely turned into 60-70 yard TD's? Tough to run those with a 150lb. receiver who gets knocked down by a strong wind! Fans let us not judge Mr. Bowles too soon!!! And let us pray that the firing of Mr. Castillo somehow lights the fires in Morningweg's engine room and we get some much needed versatility on Offense. Still time, and, with their pre-bye luck, record wise, still there, to right this ship and head to the promised land (I can dream can't I?)!!! So Fly Eagles Fly...— Edwin H.
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