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Eagles' Clayton working hard to earn starting gig
Eagles' Clayton working hard to earn starting gig
Monday, June 27, 2011
Posted: 2:06 p.m.
By Dave Zangaro
CSNPhilly.com
EVESHAM, N.J. – Keenan Clayton doesn't know what his sophomore season in the NFL will be like.
Clayton's hoping to earn a starting spot as the Eagles’ weak-side linebacker, but because of the lockout, he just isn’t sure.
“I hope so,” Clayton said. “It’s what I’m working toward. But I know that eventually me and [Jamar Chaney] will be out there together, some way, somehow.”
It remains to be seen if Clayton will join Chaney on the field whenever the 2011 season begins, but there they were on Monday, both on the field, working out together.
Clayton, for the first time since several Eagles began training and working out at the Memorial Sports Complex in Marlton, N.J., joined his teammates to take part in several drills.
The 23-year-old linebacker joined Chaney, Austin Howard, Trevor Laws, Eldra Buckley, T.J. Brennan (a hockey player from Moorestown, N.J., who is in the Sabres’ organization) and trainers from Power Train in Cherry Hill, N.J., on the artificial turf in the New Jersey suburb.
The group did agility work in and out of cones, weight training with a sled and several rounds of sprints in a workout that lasted around 45 minutes.
While Clayton has been working out throughout the off-season, Monday was the first time he’s really been around his Eagles teammates.
“Just to get around Chaney a little bit because I know I’ll be next to him on the field next year, hopefully, if we can both get in there and secure a spot,” Clayton said. “But just to be around some of the guys I’m gonna be with, kind of like college. You work with your guys in the summer to just to see what type of guys they are on and off the field. And me just being around them a little more helps us also.”
The Eagles selected Clayton with the 121st selection (fourth round) in the 2010 draft and he recorded 12 tackles in seven games played, but it seems unlikely that the Birds will bring back Ernie Sims, last year’s starter, which seemingly opens the door for Clayton.
So does he think he’ll get the nod on the weak side?
“It’s hard to say,” Clayton said. “We have a new defense, a new coordinator. We’ll have to see how it goes. I’m trying to play. I don’t know what’s going to happen or how they’re going to use me, but I’m gonna give it 110 [percent].”
Clayton has spent time this off-season training at his alma mater, Oklahoma, where he said he felt like a college kid again.
The 6-foot-1, 229-pound Clayton hopes to be a starting linebacker in the NFL but acknowledged that some think he’s better fit at another position.
“The weak side is probably more natural to me now, but I grew up as a safety,” he said. “I still feel like I could do that, but to be more natural, I’d be at weak-side.”
The lockout has been especially tough for Clayton. He wants to earn a spot, but without much experience and without knowing what to expect from the new defense and new defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, he is just determined to keep working hard.
“It would have helped a lot to go through minicamps, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “I learned a lot from last season, to stay more confident and it will help me out in the long run and it also helped me to make more plays. I’m trying to play. That’s what I came here to do. That’s why they drafted me. I’m just gonna keep working and see what happens.”
If Clayton isn’t a starter on defense, he’s determined to make a name for himself on special teams.
“If push comes to shove, at least I know I’ll be on special teams,” he said, “but hopefully I’ll get enough time in to get out there and make something happen on the field.
E-mail Dave Zangaro at [email protected].
Posted: 2:06 p.m.
By Dave Zangaro
CSNPhilly.com
EVESHAM, N.J. – Keenan Clayton doesn't know what his sophomore season in the NFL will be like.
Clayton's hoping to earn a starting spot as the Eagles’ weak-side linebacker, but because of the lockout, he just isn’t sure.
“I hope so,” Clayton said. “It’s what I’m working toward. But I know that eventually me and [Jamar Chaney] will be out there together, some way, somehow.”
It remains to be seen if Clayton will join Chaney on the field whenever the 2011 season begins, but there they were on Monday, both on the field, working out together.
Clayton, for the first time since several Eagles began training and working out at the Memorial Sports Complex in Marlton, N.J., joined his teammates to take part in several drills.
The 23-year-old linebacker joined Chaney, Austin Howard, Trevor Laws, Eldra Buckley, T.J. Brennan (a hockey player from Moorestown, N.J., who is in the Sabres’ organization) and trainers from Power Train in Cherry Hill, N.J., on the artificial turf in the New Jersey suburb.
The group did agility work in and out of cones, weight training with a sled and several rounds of sprints in a workout that lasted around 45 minutes.
While Clayton has been working out throughout the off-season, Monday was the first time he’s really been around his Eagles teammates.
“Just to get around Chaney a little bit because I know I’ll be next to him on the field next year, hopefully, if we can both get in there and secure a spot,” Clayton said. “But just to be around some of the guys I’m gonna be with, kind of like college. You work with your guys in the summer to just to see what type of guys they are on and off the field. And me just being around them a little more helps us also.”
The Eagles selected Clayton with the 121st selection (fourth round) in the 2010 draft and he recorded 12 tackles in seven games played, but it seems unlikely that the Birds will bring back Ernie Sims, last year’s starter, which seemingly opens the door for Clayton.
So does he think he’ll get the nod on the weak side?
“It’s hard to say,” Clayton said. “We have a new defense, a new coordinator. We’ll have to see how it goes. I’m trying to play. I don’t know what’s going to happen or how they’re going to use me, but I’m gonna give it 110 [percent].”
Clayton has spent time this off-season training at his alma mater, Oklahoma, where he said he felt like a college kid again.
The 6-foot-1, 229-pound Clayton hopes to be a starting linebacker in the NFL but acknowledged that some think he’s better fit at another position.
“The weak side is probably more natural to me now, but I grew up as a safety,” he said. “I still feel like I could do that, but to be more natural, I’d be at weak-side.”
The lockout has been especially tough for Clayton. He wants to earn a spot, but without much experience and without knowing what to expect from the new defense and new defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, he is just determined to keep working hard.
“It would have helped a lot to go through minicamps, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “I learned a lot from last season, to stay more confident and it will help me out in the long run and it also helped me to make more plays. I’m trying to play. That’s what I came here to do. That’s why they drafted me. I’m just gonna keep working and see what happens.”
If Clayton isn’t a starter on defense, he’s determined to make a name for himself on special teams.
“If push comes to shove, at least I know I’ll be on special teams,” he said, “but hopefully I’ll get enough time in to get out there and make something happen on the field.
E-mail Dave Zangaro at [email protected].
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