Philadelphia Eagles’ LB Casey Matthews impressed with DeMeco Ryans – NFL News
Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker, Casey Matthews, is impressed with his teammate, linebacker, DeMeco Ryans, who has recently joined the team, and said on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, that Ryans is the leader Eagles did not have earlier.
According to the details present on the team’s official website, Mathews is of the view that Ryans is a good leader who knows how to motivate people and his presence in the squad will help confidence of other players.
Mathews said:
"He's the leader that we didn't have. He's been through it all. He's overcome injuries. He's a good leader. He knows how to motivate people."
Ryans has joined the team during this offseason after being traded by the Houston Texans. He adds great value to the team’s defensive unit that struggled to perform up to the mark last year.
Interestingly, there are chances that Ryans might replace Matthews in the squad as the latter failed to deliver an impressive performance last year when he made his National Football League (NFL) debut.
Matthews started three games last year while playing 16 in which he recorded a total of 37 tackles and 1.0 sack.
On the other hand, Ryans is a two-time pro-bowler who has played six years with the Texans as their regular starter.
Nevertheless, Matthews is aware of the competition and wants to face it.
Last year, he did not practise with his teammates and was asked to take the starting role directly, but this time around, he is participating in the organised team activities (OTAs) and will also attend the training camp before the preseason games.
He said of his last year’s performance:
"It was difficult, but once I was in camp I was kind of blind to it. I thought I was doing an OK job of getting the basics of the defence."
Matthews has hoped to perform better in the upcoming NFL season, saying that he has learned a lot from his rookie season. The linebacker also wants to impress his coaches during the OTAs. He said:
"Hopefully, I'll flash during OTAs or camp. You've been through a season. You know what to expect now. Whatever way I can help this team, that's really it."
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