Time-share situation for Lewis, Considine
By LES BOWEN
[email protected]
IT WAS AN awkward afternoon along the row of locker stalls where the Eagles' safeties and cornerbacks dress.
Consequences ensue when you rank 27th in the NFL against the pass 6 weeks into the season, when you just blew a game you seemed to have taken over early in the fourth quarter.
Sean Considine gamely declared that he still considers the strong safety job Mike Lewis' position, while acknowledging what Eagles coach Andy Reid made public yesterday: Considine and Lewis will split the job Sunday at Tampa, presumably with Lewis playing primarily in short-yardage, run-stopping situations.
A few stalls down the line, Lewis left no doubt that he disagreed with the move, which probably was approved by Reid after it was made by defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, since John-son handles the defense pretty much exclusively. Johnson is scheduled to speak to reporters today. "I guess that's just the situation. Up to this point, I feel I've been having a good year. I've made a couple of mistakes, but at the same time, I've felt I was progressing," Lewis said. "It's his decision. I'm not happy with it, but I'm going to have to deal with it. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I'm all for it.
"I'm just going out and playing. When my number's called, I'll be ready, whether it's the first snap or the last snap. We'll just have to go from there and see what happens."
Lewis has been at ground zero of several big plays inflicted on the Birds' defense this season. He lost Saints wideout Joe Horn on a double move that let Horn romp to a 48-yard, game-tying fourth-quarter touchdown Sunday, a week after Lewis had to interfere with Terry Glenn to keep the Dallas receiver from catching a potential game-tying touchdown pass in the final minute, on fourth-and-18. Another lowlight, earlier, included the Giants' fumble Lewis couldn't recover that ended up as a New York touchdown, which was the catalyst for a Giants comeback from a 24-7 fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime.
"We're doing packages with both the guys," Reid said yesterday. After the game-tying glitch Sunday, Considine replaced Lewis in the base package, Lewis taking Considine's former role in the dime. "They're both going to play and we'll see... who the starter is and who the starter isn't."
Pressed for details, Reid said: "There are times that [Lewis] will be out there and there are times Sean will be out there. We're going to mix and match some things."
Teammates took pains not to scapegoat Lewis or rookie linebacker Omar Gaither, who was responsible for a critical too-many-men-on-the-field penalty late in the game.
"We're not playing at the level we want to play at, in all three areas - linemen, linebackers and secondary," veteran linebacker Shawn Barber said. "Nobody's happy where we are as a defense right now. That's exciting to me - that means the guys are eager to make improvements. We want to hurry up and play like it's Week 15 or 16. Right now, we're still going through some of the growing pains of getting us from where we are now to where we need to be. Each game, we have the potential to go out there and play Eagles football for four quarters. Everybody in this locker room, everybody on our defense is excited to do that."
Free safety Brian Dawkins acknowledged he had spoken to Lewis about the Saints game.
"Obviously, I've been in that situation, as far as giving up some passes in key situations for touchdowns, and I know how much it hurts, because I know how much it hurt me," Dawkins said. "The thing you do as a player - and especially when you're a good player - you expect a lot of yourself, which he does. You take it hard upon yourself... The thing you have to have as a defensive back is a short memory, because things are going to happen."
Dawkins said that while he has worked with Lewis longer than with any other strong safety - Lewis became a starter late in the 2002 season, as a rookie - he feels OK about working with Considine, as well. In Johnson's system, the strong safety makes the coverage calls for the secondary.
"I've been in practice with Sean, we've been in meetings together, so I understand that he knows the defense, and when he's in there, I'll be confident that he's going to get us in the right defense, and he'll listen to me if I see something that he needs to see," Dawkins said.
Considine is in his second year from Iowa. He was a fourth-round draftee whose rookie season was pretty much a waste because of a shoulder problem that eventually landed him on injured reserve. Officially, Considine is 6-foot, 212, Lewis 6-1, 222; but unofficially, Lewis seems to have at least 15 or 20 pounds of muscle over Considine. Considine had played mostly in the dime package before the New Orleans game.
"It's just one of those deals where they're going to try to use us to our strengths," Considine said. "I've been playing dime all year; I've become accustomed to playing deep, playing in the passing game. I think that's where they want to use me, in passing situations, for now. Mike obviously is a lot bigger than me and a really physical player, good against the run."
Considine tried to downplay the potential for awkwardness.
"It's one of those things, it's part of the business," he said. "There's no hard feelings. If Mike ends up taking the job back and I don't get another rep, I'll know that I gave it my best shot and Mike stepped up. In the end, I think we're going to end up better for this because we're both pushing each other."
Lewis said he has spoken with several teammates since Sunday.
"I've heard from a number of guys. It's one of those things in the NFL; you have a bad game, and it gets kind of tough around the household. A number of guys have called me," Lewis said.
Lewis, who played in the Pro Bowl 2 years ago, can be an unrestricted free agent this spring. The Eagles tried to get a long-term deal done with him last year, couldn't come to agreement, and haven't tried again. A push to sign Lewis before free agency now seems unlikely. But he said yesterday that his contract situation has not been bothering him.
Dawkins expressed the hope that "at some point, Mike gets his confidence where it needs to be, and it'll be back to where he's in there and making plays, like we know he can do."
After the Saints game, Johnson spoke of Lewis' confidence having been "destroyed, a little."
Lewis denied that yesterday.
"Not at all," he said. "When you're a defensive back in this league, confidence is one thing you have to have. You give up one play, you feel like you're going to make the next play."
Birdseed
Cornerback Rod Hood (heel) did not practice yesterday and begins another week of being listed as doubtful for the upcoming game... Tackle William Thom-as sat out yesterday and is listed as questionable with back spasms; second-round rookie Winston Justice, who hasn't been activated this season, took Thomas' practice reps... Also sitting out and listed as questionable were defensive end Darren Howard (groin), wide receiver Donté Stallworth (hamstring) and Shawn Barber (stinger)... Running back Brian Westbrook (knee) was listed as probable.
By LES BOWEN
[email protected]
IT WAS AN awkward afternoon along the row of locker stalls where the Eagles' safeties and cornerbacks dress.
Consequences ensue when you rank 27th in the NFL against the pass 6 weeks into the season, when you just blew a game you seemed to have taken over early in the fourth quarter.
Sean Considine gamely declared that he still considers the strong safety job Mike Lewis' position, while acknowledging what Eagles coach Andy Reid made public yesterday: Considine and Lewis will split the job Sunday at Tampa, presumably with Lewis playing primarily in short-yardage, run-stopping situations.
A few stalls down the line, Lewis left no doubt that he disagreed with the move, which probably was approved by Reid after it was made by defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, since John-son handles the defense pretty much exclusively. Johnson is scheduled to speak to reporters today. "I guess that's just the situation. Up to this point, I feel I've been having a good year. I've made a couple of mistakes, but at the same time, I've felt I was progressing," Lewis said. "It's his decision. I'm not happy with it, but I'm going to have to deal with it. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I'm all for it.
"I'm just going out and playing. When my number's called, I'll be ready, whether it's the first snap or the last snap. We'll just have to go from there and see what happens."
Lewis has been at ground zero of several big plays inflicted on the Birds' defense this season. He lost Saints wideout Joe Horn on a double move that let Horn romp to a 48-yard, game-tying fourth-quarter touchdown Sunday, a week after Lewis had to interfere with Terry Glenn to keep the Dallas receiver from catching a potential game-tying touchdown pass in the final minute, on fourth-and-18. Another lowlight, earlier, included the Giants' fumble Lewis couldn't recover that ended up as a New York touchdown, which was the catalyst for a Giants comeback from a 24-7 fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime.
"We're doing packages with both the guys," Reid said yesterday. After the game-tying glitch Sunday, Considine replaced Lewis in the base package, Lewis taking Considine's former role in the dime. "They're both going to play and we'll see... who the starter is and who the starter isn't."
Pressed for details, Reid said: "There are times that [Lewis] will be out there and there are times Sean will be out there. We're going to mix and match some things."
Teammates took pains not to scapegoat Lewis or rookie linebacker Omar Gaither, who was responsible for a critical too-many-men-on-the-field penalty late in the game.
"We're not playing at the level we want to play at, in all three areas - linemen, linebackers and secondary," veteran linebacker Shawn Barber said. "Nobody's happy where we are as a defense right now. That's exciting to me - that means the guys are eager to make improvements. We want to hurry up and play like it's Week 15 or 16. Right now, we're still going through some of the growing pains of getting us from where we are now to where we need to be. Each game, we have the potential to go out there and play Eagles football for four quarters. Everybody in this locker room, everybody on our defense is excited to do that."
Free safety Brian Dawkins acknowledged he had spoken to Lewis about the Saints game.
"Obviously, I've been in that situation, as far as giving up some passes in key situations for touchdowns, and I know how much it hurts, because I know how much it hurt me," Dawkins said. "The thing you do as a player - and especially when you're a good player - you expect a lot of yourself, which he does. You take it hard upon yourself... The thing you have to have as a defensive back is a short memory, because things are going to happen."
Dawkins said that while he has worked with Lewis longer than with any other strong safety - Lewis became a starter late in the 2002 season, as a rookie - he feels OK about working with Considine, as well. In Johnson's system, the strong safety makes the coverage calls for the secondary.
"I've been in practice with Sean, we've been in meetings together, so I understand that he knows the defense, and when he's in there, I'll be confident that he's going to get us in the right defense, and he'll listen to me if I see something that he needs to see," Dawkins said.
Considine is in his second year from Iowa. He was a fourth-round draftee whose rookie season was pretty much a waste because of a shoulder problem that eventually landed him on injured reserve. Officially, Considine is 6-foot, 212, Lewis 6-1, 222; but unofficially, Lewis seems to have at least 15 or 20 pounds of muscle over Considine. Considine had played mostly in the dime package before the New Orleans game.
"It's just one of those deals where they're going to try to use us to our strengths," Considine said. "I've been playing dime all year; I've become accustomed to playing deep, playing in the passing game. I think that's where they want to use me, in passing situations, for now. Mike obviously is a lot bigger than me and a really physical player, good against the run."
Considine tried to downplay the potential for awkwardness.
"It's one of those things, it's part of the business," he said. "There's no hard feelings. If Mike ends up taking the job back and I don't get another rep, I'll know that I gave it my best shot and Mike stepped up. In the end, I think we're going to end up better for this because we're both pushing each other."
Lewis said he has spoken with several teammates since Sunday.
"I've heard from a number of guys. It's one of those things in the NFL; you have a bad game, and it gets kind of tough around the household. A number of guys have called me," Lewis said.
Lewis, who played in the Pro Bowl 2 years ago, can be an unrestricted free agent this spring. The Eagles tried to get a long-term deal done with him last year, couldn't come to agreement, and haven't tried again. A push to sign Lewis before free agency now seems unlikely. But he said yesterday that his contract situation has not been bothering him.
Dawkins expressed the hope that "at some point, Mike gets his confidence where it needs to be, and it'll be back to where he's in there and making plays, like we know he can do."
After the Saints game, Johnson spoke of Lewis' confidence having been "destroyed, a little."
Lewis denied that yesterday.
"Not at all," he said. "When you're a defensive back in this league, confidence is one thing you have to have. You give up one play, you feel like you're going to make the next play."
Birdseed
Cornerback Rod Hood (heel) did not practice yesterday and begins another week of being listed as doubtful for the upcoming game... Tackle William Thom-as sat out yesterday and is listed as questionable with back spasms; second-round rookie Winston Justice, who hasn't been activated this season, took Thomas' practice reps... Also sitting out and listed as questionable were defensive end Darren Howard (groin), wide receiver Donté Stallworth (hamstring) and Shawn Barber (stinger)... Running back Brian Westbrook (knee) was listed as probable.
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