Okay, I get that you don’t really game-plan for the first preseason game… you run the first team through 15 minutes of scripted stuff… you go for some game-conditioning acclimation… you get your “one”-team guys out of there in one piece within the first quarter… and you get your “two”‘s and “three”‘s as many reps as possible, get as much game tape on them as you can for teaching purposes… as well as providing the guys that will be released some valuable film they may be able to sell to another team…
But it’s also important to note: Juan Castillo will be calling his first defensive game from the sidelines as a professional…
Juan Castillo may be the most intense on-field and sidelines coach since Knute Rockne… nobody in the pro game can match him for teaching and motivational energy… and his debut as a coordinator comes on Thursday (tomorrow) against the Baltimore Ravens…
I’ll be watching Castillo as much as the players he coordinates…
Castillo looks at Thursday’s preseason opener against Baltimore as a chance to go over his side’s work at camp so far.
“I don’t think anybody really game-plans a preseason game,” he said. “It’s more of we’ll go in and do the things that we’ve been practicing and then try to match up their stuff,” Castillo said.“Really, they have not watched any tape, we really don’t game-plan. All we want to do is really what this game allows us to do— kind of refresh and go through all the coverages and blitzes we’ve been practicing. Kind of like a little review, really.”
Castillo on calling his own defenses: “You know, I haven’t done it in the NFL. So just like all of us, it will be my first time and hopefully I’ll get better every game.”
And on a related front, rookie middle linebacker Casey Matthews on making defensive calls to veterans in the huddle: “Here we treat everybody the same, first year, 15th year. They’re going to listen to me. They have to listen to me.”
Nice.
Castillo’s free safety Nate Allen says he’s ready to give it a go against Joe Flacco and the Ravens.
“I’ll be in full-go mode and it will be a good test to see how I feel,” Allen said.“I don’t know how many snaps I will get but I am excited. And it’ll be a good opportunity (for all the new guys in the secondary) to start to get a feel for each other in a game situation.”
One thing in Castillo’s and Nate Allen’s favor: Baltimore’s Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron has trimmed his playbook due to the lockout… And the Eagles’ defense will be seeing very little of the Ravens’ best offensive veterans…or their playbook.
Because the team didn’t have offseason mini-camps or rookie camps, the Ravens and all teams (including the Eagles) have had less time to install their offenses for 2011 and are thus making it simpler for players.
“In this case, less is best,” Cameron said.
“You pare it down and you evolve as you learn and with what guys are capable are doing. That’s probably been good for most offenses.”
While the Ravens keep the same system under Cameron, there are changes from year-to-year. This offseason, head coach John Harbaugh got more involved in the offense’s formation… and coaches also said they wanted to build in more freedom for quarterback Joe Flacco.
The Ravens also have injected the offense with youth, which has made trying to catch up an even taller task following the lockout. Rookie wide receivers Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss are running with the first team and second-year tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta are stepping in for Todd Heap, who is now an Arizona Cardinal…
Of course, Cameron knows there can only be so much trimming.
“You can’t be too simple. Then you’d be easy to defend,” he said.
Cameron isn’t the only offensive mind that’s scaling back. During the lockout, New England Patriots head coach and offensive play-caller Bill Belichick said he may “drastically” trim his playbook.
Typically teams play their starters for one quarter of the first preseason game before sending them to the bench and out of harm’s way.
At least Castillo won’t have to worry about TE Todd Heap, who was released on a salary cap move (the Ravens were $12 million over the cap after last year)…or Derrick Mason, the WR who wound up with the Jets for the same reason.
That means rookie wide receivers Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss will get a longer look.
And Ricky Williams probably won’t play… which is too bad for Eagles fans, because a lot of us were secretly hoping he’d end up with us…and would like to see how our guys could defense him.
Ricky Williams just signed a 2-year, $4-million deal with the Ravens, with $1 million guaranteed…Williams was working with RB coach Wilbert Montgomery during his first practice Tuesday when Wilbert told him he wasn’t going to play Thursday against the Eagles.
“And then he looked at me and said, ‘Unless you really, really want to play,’” Williams said. “I don’t think I am, unless I wake up feeling like Superman.”
Harbaugh said he would “encourage” Williams not to lace up his cleats versus Philadelphia. The new backup running back passed his physical and saw light action in his first day… and there’s only a walkthrough scheduled for Friday after the preseason game in Philly
On the other side of the ball, Eagles fans will probably not get to see rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith, either. The Ravens have been taking it easy with Smith, who Harbaugh said had a groin tweak. Smith missed four practices, but returned to the field on a limited basis last Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. He has progressively done a bit more each day.
However, it’s still unknown whether Smith will suit up Thursday. A reporter asked if Smith would play Thursday.
“I wouldn’t say that. We’ll see,” Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano said.
“We’re being pretty cautious with him still. I think he jumped in there and did a little bit of special teams, and got a few reps here and there, but we’re making sure we don’t push him too hard and have another setback.”
Eagles head coach Andy Reid said on his WIP radio show that Philadelphia’s first-team offense and defense will play one quarter at Lincoln Financial Field.
The second team will play the second quarter and into the third… and everybody else will finish the game.
The Eagles likely want to let their top personnel teams gel more in a game situation, since they have added so many pieces (cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, running back Ronnie Brown, quarterback Vince Young, and offensive tackle Ryan Harris, to name a few)…
But the first preseason game will not be the showcase for the big-name players…this one will be about the guys fighting for jobs. And, I should mention, keep your eye on the kicking game…we’ve got two rookies (Henery and Henry) at K and P, respectively, for the first time since 1939…probably would want to see those two guys get some serious reps.
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