Chaney to MLB; Matthews to WLB
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Chaney to MLB; Matthews to WLB
Jeff McLane
Jamar Chaney has been moved back to middle linebacker. (Jeff McLane)
Jamar Chaney is now the Eagles' starting middle linebacker, replacing rookie Casey Matthews, who will move to weak-side linebacker, team sources said.
The shuffling of the linebackers included Moise Fokou moving from weak-side linebacker to strong-side linebacker in place of Chaney.
Chaney confirmed the moves following the afternoon practice.
"This is the position I like to play," Chaney said. "I liked playing [strong-side] but I was just getting used to it."
Chaney believed that the move was partly made "because I was at [middle linebacker] last year and had some pretty good success at it. ... Growing up you always want to be the leader of the defense and I take on the challenge and look forward to it."
Two games of watching running backs run rampant through the middle of the Eagles' defense was apparently enough for coordinator Juan Castillo to make the moves as the Eagles prepare for Sunday's home opener against the New York Giants.
"It's not really different, it's all basically the same," Matthews said of the changes.
The Matthews experiment in the middle is thus offically over. The rookie, a fourth-round draft pick, struggled in two starts. In fact, the entire linebacker corp has not played particularly well thus far. In the opener, the Rams ran for 154 yards on the ground. On Sunday, the Falcons gained 138 rushing yards, including a 61-yard run from Michael Turner in the fourth quarter that set up the game-winning score for Atlanta.
Chaney moves back to the middle where he played most of last season as a backup. When he did start, filling in for the injured Stewart Bradley, he fared well.
Then a rookie, Chaney tallied 16 tackles, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry against the Giants on Dec. 19. A week later against the Vikings, he recorded eight tackles. And then in a playoff loss against the Packers, Chaney notched 11 tackles, a forced fumble and a hurry.
Many had Matthews pegged as an outside linebacker in a 4-3 defensive scheme coming out of Oregon. He'll get his chance to play there on Sunday.
"He played outside in college so he might feel more comfortable out there," Chaney said. "He was out there practicing today. He said he's already starting to like the position so that's a good thing.
"With [weak-side] he doesn't have to worry about making no calls. He did a good job. Out of all the rookie linebackers in the league he probably had the most pressure or responsibility on him."
Fokou moves back to strong-side where he played most of his first two seasons.
"It's not a huge change but you're doing different jobs," Chaney said.
The Eagles had felt Chaney was better suited to play strong-side in Castillo's scheme because of his cover skills. But Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez had his way against the second-year linebacker on Sunday, although many have suffered the same fate against the future Hall of Famer.
Chaney said the nickel defense will remain the same at linebacker with either Matthews or Brian Rolle -- and sometimes Keenan Clayton -- playing alongside him.
Comments (96)
Comment removed.
I don't think ANYONE asked for this. Asking Matthews to start at arguably the most important position on defense was downright stupid. Year in and year out Reid completely ignores all three lb positions. And again, its a glaring weakness on the team. The only person shocked by this is Andy Reid.— iggles07- Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. All In Dream Team!!— Scope33
- This should have been figured on in pre-season.— P Even
- Comment removed.
- Maybe they should've rearranged the LBs in the brief offseason. With different LBs.— monty142
- Andy Reid is too stubborn and arrogant to win a SB. Bill Belichick is arrogant, but he won't hesitate adapt his scheme to match his personnel and vice versa.— RockStar
- I agree with scope 33, ...if this is the move, then it should have been done months ago. Now we have three linebackers moving to new positions.
This officially qualifies as yet another player personnel debacle.
From a player developement and production standpoint, how much better will Mathews be, being thrown into a new starting position at this point?
Amazing.— andyd - Good move I think both guys will excel at their more natural spots. I don't think Fokou is an nfl starter, but there isn't much they can do about that spot this season. Every team in the NFL has weak spots it's a product of the salary cap, the way their defense is structured they don't really rely on LB's. Lb's in the NFL outside of the ones that play for 3-4 teams are going the way of the FB it is a passing league more than ever so I think the Eagles were right to sacrifice at LB and bolster the line and secondary.— Ed Gein
- Ed,
What a novel concepts. Playing guys in the natural spots instead of trying to plug a square peg into a round hole. At least the Eagles were smart enough to make this move now. The game tape doesn't lie, I watched some of the same again last night on NFL replay, and Matthews just isn't ready to be a starter in the NFL.— PSU_Chuck - "I think the Eagles were right to sacrifice at LB and bolster the line and secondary"
Tony Gonzalez would certainly agree with you.— Bob1 - That's like saying I am going to wear my my blue tuxedo tee shirt to the presidential ball in stead of my black and white one. These are low round special teams players at best that can be swapped out with practice squad players with little ot no dropp off. Reids contempt for the run and defensing the run is downright unforgivable
- So they really didn't address the PROBLEM.— Jim Collins again
- Best news I've heard all day. Although, swapping marginal players in different positions isn't exactly 'what i asked for.' But it's a start, I guess— stikolaboloni
- Lets take stock of the Eagles 2011 draft so far. Danny Watkins-cant play. Casey Matthews-cant play. Jarrad-cant play.
Good goig Andy. You know how to build a team.— Pat c - Fokou can't tackle in the open field.— bluebellious
- What I've asked for is a new head coach.— ilovesalad
- If only we could have Sunday's honorary captain (Seth Joyner) suit up.— gritseater
- When will the "Juan Castillo Experiment" be over....??? We let Dick Jauron get away over this?? Frankly the way Jaun runs around on the sideline, I thought he was the Motivation Coordinator, not the DC...another front office MISTAKE— SkipinWV
- Stubborness by Andy created the mess....Poor draft choice set up the mess and his philosphy that linebackers are not that important ets us to where we are today......Remember we did not need wide recievers, then he woke up, got TO and we went to the SB...Remember we do not need big tough linebackers so he cut Troter...but somehow realized it later on and brught him back....now his arrogance and stubborness and wrong thinking puts us in a whole.....Isnt it amazing that all the teams in the league value the postion but he does not.....Come on Jeffery...Time to cut and run on stupidity and stuborness....Cowher and Gruden are out there and there are many other young guys who couldn't do worse than failing for 12 consecutive years.....Hello..— nuggett
- Forget weakside, for Fabio, the WLB stands for just plain weak linebacker— Astro Jones
- That should take care of all our worries. Chaney. And we didn't resign Bradley because....?— Mr. Underhill
- What a bunch of losers you jokers are. It makes me sick to hear the sniping that never ends. You'd think we were talking about the Chiefs.— deputydog
- the difference between the Chiefs' fans and the Eagles' fans is:
the Chiefs' fans realize their team is going nowhere.— ekw555 - None of these guys is exactly LT or even Byron Evans, but at least they moved them all to their positions of greatest strength. The way they previously had it was just asking for trouble.— drbob1
- these are the types of things that drive the fan base insane about reid.— xlGmanlx
- these are the types of things that drive the fan base insane about reid.— xlGmanlx
- it is what it is at this point no ones beating the packers or patriots so we really should start planning for next years off season and getting everyone caught up to speed keep vince young and the ronnie browns steve smiths of the world just go get some LB's worth signing— DJ_Bootleggah
- hmm, so this is the solution?? The Eagles employ 3 slow, small, weak, no talent, inexperienced linebackers...those same lbs get exposed for two consecutive games and your solution is to rearrange them like their version of the shell/hidden ball game con? You have got to be kidding...this is like rearranging three pylons after they failed to stop a herd of charging elephants. C'mon man...— sedale
- FINALLY! they come to there senses sheesh! but they still have to make one more move and thats to trade for Lance Briggs! Bring Lance Briggs to Philly!!— VickaDelphia24
- Juan is the real problem here. Has been for years over on the o-line side and now we have his poor decision making to worry about on the D. What was the point of putting all three LB's in positions that were new to them (especially in a shortened off season)! Now were are back to were we should have been at the start of preseason with the LB's in their proper positions. Brilliant! I just hope this group of mediocre talent can step it up and play their natural positions now that they've been put in the right spot. Someone also needs to work on Asante's tackling (or lack of) so he at least gets in there and grabs on and slows down the guy with the ball instead of running alongside plays and diving out of the way.— connorjr
- What if Casey Matthews can't play WLB either? Does that mean that Reid and Roseman struck out on our first four draft picks?— billro33
Bri-an Rolle! Bri-an Rolle! Bri-an Rolle!- I like Chaney in the middle, he was a bright spot on a very dim defense last year. Hopefully Matthews can cover a big slow tight end and put Nndami or Dominique on them in passing situations.— willbert31
- Better late than never. When can I get the next piece of good news, that Page has been cut?? He's gotta be the worst safety in the league. And between him and Fokou, they absolutely cost the Birds a win last Sunday. Don't believe it, watch the tape again.— Tacklebury
- Lets all be reminded that Sean McDermott scrambled linebackers every game last season--and recall how that went. Castillo is really handicapped by his own inexperience at seeing rival offenses and breaking them down. It's wrong to fault players for coaching choices and decisions. Thinking athleticism of Eagles all backer are OK. For every mammoth LB, there is a sam mills or zach thomas...give these kids a chance to play a few more games together before declaring an emergency.— Smashmouth
- as if it matters. all three stink and both safeties too. another brilliant off-season for the accounting firm of banner and roseman.— snakeplissken
- How come everyone saw this coming from day 1 other than Andy Reid? Cmon man— bouldereagle
- Lofa Tatupu— blueye7
It's damn shame that we had to lose a game we should have won hands down in order for this to happen!....Castillo you are a first class Idiot!— citysims- The defense got schooled last game. No way the Eagles should score 31 pts and lose the game with our so called patented defense. Need to address the ineffectiveness of those linebackers like yesterday. Hopefully this is the fix to take us up a notch. Don't know why they don't try to get Lance Briggs from Chicago. The man is not happy there and wants to be traded. Give up some of those draft picks you got to bring him in and lets get busy!— levans4598
- Says alot about our D coordinator; makes this decision, spends months implementing it and then runs away from it in 2 weeks! Surely a poor decision from the get go!— JBinPA
- I swear I saw Arlene Ackeman in the Middle of the defense at the NovaCare complex this morning.........she was calling the defensive signals.........Heck why not...........Ohhh shucks she was just helping "Nickels" count da money.........
Talk about Lemmings.............keep lining up folks...........the cliff gets closer each passing week..........
— hflu123 - Castillo = peter principle. Never quite got how a guy got a promotion when the unit he left was so "good" they did a complete overhaul of not only the style of play, but personell. Nice guy and a hard worker I am sure, but in the end that doesnt always cut it— DrSmoke
- Dream Team is looking like Team Nightmare!— JBinPA
- Yeah, they're running a little scared of what could happen this season if they don't correct the problem. Andy's neck is on the line and it should be because it's been awhile and you still can't get it right. Since he's the coach and he decides on the personnel he should get all the blame in my book. This is sink or swim territory now!— levans4598
- I bet you Rolle nails a starting job by the end of the season.— rad205
- It only took 4 preseason and 2 regular games for Juan to figure out what Philly Fans already knew. Casey Matthews isn't ready to be a starter in the NFL at any linebacking position. Lamar Chaney should have been the starter at MLB, based on his production last season. Eagles brass will be trying to save face with their glorification of Matthews but truth be told, Brian Rolle is a much better player than Casey. Rolle will be the next option once Clay's step-brother flops at his new position. You know this all started when Dopey Andy selected Juan as DC, over more qualifed (but more expensive) candidates. Hopefully Washburn is really running the Defense and Juan is just the goofy cheerleader on the sidelines!— younged
- Comment removed.
- According the Cheney, this move to the inside is new to him...where is this news coming from???— rvb2321
- first watkins, then matthews; getting to be a troubling trend: troubling that the coaches who are too close to the situation having drafted these guys think things are going to work out when the average fan in the nosebleed seats know they won't.— vegasscott
- Hopefully this year is Reid's last— DrumsAndBeer
- All Reid needs now is to put Jamal Jackson back in at Center!!!!!!!
— Rollie - Let's just be happy it is happening in week 3 and not week 9 when we can't make the playoffs without a miracle. Hope to see a difference on Sunday.— carmendmv
- Great, now we will run to the Weak Side.....Tom Coughlin!!— zidane
- Everything is so simple. You just need a Pro Bowl level plater at every position and some luck. Why can't Reid see this????? Boy, I sure wish you guys were running the team. Any idiot can run an NFL team so you're all qualified.— MikeP
- Lance Briggs is too slow and expensive. Bad idea.— momeara001
- Would it have been that bad to just resign Stewart Bradley? Seriously?— Mr. Underhill
- Juan, Put the Madden 12 controller down and start concentrating on the job at hand!!!!!!— zidane
- They can reshuffle these guys all they want, but it isn't going to make them NFL players. I've never been one to call Andy Reid dumb because I always felt he was a smart football guy. But I have to tell you, starting a rookie at middle linebacker (the only reason seeming to be that his last name is Matthews), starting a second year guy at strongside (who played better at middle but wasn't anything special), and a guy at weakside (who hasn't ever been any good) is completely nonsensical. To exacerbate things, he makes his former offensive line coach the defensive coordinator. Who does that? Every year he acts as though linebackers are unimportant to a defense even though every great defense in the history of the game was anchored by their linebackers. On top of this, he puts together a half-hazard offensive line, while signing a quarterback to 130 million dollar contract. Why bother when any quarterback is going to be mincemeat before the season is over? Every year, he makes these out of the box decisions that no one would make in a million years. If these decisions had won him titles, I could buy it, but they haven't. In fact, they have gotten him beat. I'm starting to feel that he got lucky for a lot of years because Ray Rhodes left him a lot of defensive talent and Jim Johnson knew what to do with that talent. Once that talent got old and now no Jim Johnson, Reid is beginning to prove himself to be absolutely clueless in regards to building a team and understanding what sorts of things a team needs to be successful. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect this team to win anything, not as long the current decision making and the philosophy behind it is still intact.— Hemingway
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- I know he's been hurt, but we sign hurt players anyway...so was wondering why we didnt try to get Shawne Merriman during the offseason since Buffalo had to RESIGN him for him to stay.....even HURT hes better than anything we have....WTF.— chilljay
- We will be out-coached a lot more often than out-played this year. That's the only area left to overhaul.— burholme
- Of course since everybody in the NFL knew Matthews was more suited to play on the outside, Andy had to show how much smarter he is than them and make him a MIKE. Well, at least he didn't wait until week 12 to make this move.
Let's see last two drafts high draft picks with our accountant GM...
1) Brandom Graham - hurt/can't play
2) Nate Allen - hurt/can't play
3) Daniel Teo Nabisco or w/e - already cut to the practice squad
1) Danny Watkins - 26 yr old rookie - can't play
2) Jaiquawn Jarrett - can't play
3) Curtis Marsh - can't play— Only in Philly... - Maybe we can get Bradley back from Arizona? They need corners. Trade Hanson and a pick to get Stew back.— Crazy_Canuck
- That's one big DUH!— ej610
- The little time they had in training was wasted on Mathews.— ej610
- Andy just makes all the right moves....in hindsight. Now the dreamteam is set for yet another unprecedented regular season championship.— Carlos2
- In the Eagles haste to remove all veteran presence at LB, they have left themselves with a small and inexperienced group to compete against the top teams in the NFL.. Linebacking is a position where smarts and experience count for more than just raw physical skills. How do you stop guys like Rodgers and Brees with such a group of linebackers? The answer is-- I 'm not quite sure.. Roseman..keep your eyes on Penn State's Mauti at LB.. guy was a true force in the game vs. Temple and is up for the Butkus Award. He looks like an NFL middle backer in the making.— bradco
- This shuffle should be a slight improvement. But basically you've got an average NFL starter in Chaney and two pretty good backups in Fokou and Matthews. When you add in a line where the ends are now lined up wide, how can the Eagles not get gashed by the run?
When it comes to drafting and free agents, the Eagles have basically said their goal at linebacker is to find three Ike Reese's. These guys are all working their butts off, but the result is similar to three Ikes. Add in average safeties and it's like a baseball team that's weak at pitcher, shortstop, 2nd base, and centerfield.
Not a solid, super team. An exciting team with high effort and great team speed.— armchairGM - Now all they need to do is plug Andy in his more natural position as a QB coach and bring in a true HCoach and we'll get somewhere.— greenflyer
- Questioning the Gold Standard? You should all know better. Who are you to think you know what you are seeing on the football foeld. Only his royal roundness knows football. This team will never win the Super Bowl w/Reid as their coach. It's that simple....he can't draft, he can't call plays, he can't adjust, he can't manage the clock, he can't challenge calls...must I go one. If it's not on his menu, he's lost. He plays not to lose, rather than to win. All you have to do is look at the Kafka play calling...he was worried about losing 42-31 rather than 35-31. Does it matter? Give your team a shot at winning. He really does need to do a better job. This guy is a pompous, arrogant loser. He should have been fired years ago.
- Comment removed.
- They are all still too small and not strong enough to stop the run. Andy, Juan, do you remember Trotter? That's a LB. You know Urlacher? That's an LB.— DKNJ
- Andy, Andy, Andy...He ignorance has no end. Get ready for "I gotta do a better job of working with the defense" spill. He hires a defensive coordinator with less experience than the guy he just fired; what did we expect. The offensive line is a wreck and Vick will miss half the season because of it. This is disgusting...— WeArePennState
- Thank God they weren't too stubborn to admit their mistake. And, even though Reid can be intractable, he has changed in midstream before with good success (Kolb to Vick last year; Simoneau to Trotter the year they went to the Super Bowl).— iceman
- So, for those of us keeping score at home...that's picks from rounds 1-4 that have been busts so far. NICE! Awesome job, Andy.— scootch
- At least they didn't wait all season like the Ernie Sims mistake.— sxs27616
- Since training camp began I have been saying that Matthews wasn't good enough to play MLB. NFL Live was quoted as saying, after being gashed by the Falcons the Matthews experiment is over. Where are all those defenders of Matthews saying just give him time. Chaney played well at MLB last year but that wasn't in the Wide Nine formation so the jury is out on him here too! Next year there will be 3 new LB's here. Chaney remains starting back at the WLB, Fokuo is gone and Matthews rides the bench.— The Marco Islander
- I think that they were asking for trouble staring all three of these LBs at a position that wasn't natural. It looks like we are forced to play this one out witht he group that we have. If we do trade for an LB I would put Asante on the block. Can't have weak LBs and a corner that won't tackle.— nceagle
- Comment removed.
- DAMN ANDY REID IS SO BAD THAT WE ARE ALWAYS IN CONTENTION GIVE ME A BREAK U FAKE A.. FANS. CRYING LIKE A BUNCH OF GIRLS NO TEAM IS PERFECT THEY ALL HAVE HOLES YOU HAVE TO SCHEME TO COVER YOUR WEAK AREAS IF YOU HAD ALL PRO'S AT EVERY POSITION HOW WOULD YOU PAY THEM HOW WOULD YOU STOP ANOTHER TEAM FROM SIGNING ALL OF THEM ....GO EAGLES WE HAD A SHORT OFF SEASON WITH PLAYER AND COACHING CHANGES GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO JELL— positive eagle
- Perhaps Ruben Amaro is availalbe for a consulting gig prior to the next draft and free agency period.— billtfla
- Wishbone, Tatupu has two bad knees (or two surgeries on one knee, I forget which). That's why no one has signed him.— armchairGM
- Reality check, people. If Reid didn't address our two biggest areas of need on defense last year (RCB & RDE) with four Pro Bowlers (Nnamde, DRC, Babin, Jenkins), you'd be crucifying him for that. The defense will be feared by mid season... FEARED. Relax. Let them figure it out and stay on the bandwagon.— Commish
- Personally, I think the Eagles would be better off if the fans coached them as a committee. It takes the Eagles YEARS to respond to something the fans knew all along. Jeez! What idiots.— essell
- Astro - you obviously have no idea of what you speak. Let me educate you on Lance Briggs, chicago bear. He is Will line backer. He is not "weak" in anyone's book. However, the ENTIRE defense is set to push players his way. Any other team, in any other scheme, he would be casey matthews.
And by the way for you all hung up on LBs - Urlacher (aka as@licker in chicago by eagles fans)was a way undersized safety when drafted . The ONLY reason he got on the field ever was due to injury to starting MLB. Chicago media had him as as 1st round bust!!!! All the haters who say - " big and fat" beat "small and fast" - Briggs and Urlacher are the empitome of the latter. Isee them in person almost every week - they are not these "giants" that the NFL stats would have you believe. They are (at best) 6'2 to 6'3 and maybe 240 lbs. Maybe they have more heart or drive, but they are NOT some super freak combo that does not exist (and that some posters think can be had at any round in the entire round).— chitowniggle - Yo Pat - as my wife (a life long packer fan) says so even you could undertand - and I quote "really good teams should not have draft picks that end up starting as rookies - excepting injuries, or an unusual alignment of need and available talent"
Maybe you can argue with her about what picks suck. Just check GB roster and see that Sherrod has been inactive so far before you spout your nonsense.— chitowniggle - matthews is not a starter at any position too slow and small don't understand why reid drafted a 37yr old o-lineman gave him the job and the guy won't be ready until he is 41...ready for social security if it is still there.— only 9
- This is the right move. Chaney and Matthews are both very talented LBs, but neither were playing their natural position. Sorry, haters, but this move was more about Chaney getting torched on pass coverage last week than about Matthews (Matthews actually played well until the whole D ran out of gas in Q4). Chaney played very well at MLB last year. But, I'm not sure how long they can have Fokiu out there..he always seems to be filling the wrong gap on every play...it is time to move Clayton in there?— Phront_Runner
- The question is: How many Eagles linebackers/safeties will Brandon Jacobs physically carry on his back as he lumbers down the middle for a 40-yard gain. I'm guessin' 3-4.— NM Eagle fan
- Moved from Philly in 2008. Sunday was the first time I saw the Eagles play this year. Look like 10-6 and one and done in the playoffs at best. Best part of move -never see Andy Reid press conferences anymore! Is he still (cough,cough) promising to work on and fix everything by next Sunday?— bmayer1865
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
1
Popular Posts
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
