MIDDLE MAN

July 29, 2008

MIDDLE MAN- NOLA.com

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma welcomes a fresh start to his career playing in the heart of a defense that complements his abilities
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
By Billy Turner

JACKSON, MISS. — – It was a simple play at training camp practice, but it could be a harbinger of things to come.

Saints running back Pierre Thomas looped away from the line as quarterback Mark Brunell dropped back. Brunell, looking away for the longest time, then turned and threw to Thomas. Immediately in Thomas’ face was No. 51, Jonathan Vilma.

Vilma’s speed, quickness and agility have never been questioned, but after a two-year stint in a defense that didn’t suit his abilities, he has come to the Saints to start over.

If ever there was a player who is enjoying a change in scenery, even in the sweltering heat and humidity of the south, it’s Vilma.

Having weathered life in Coach Eric Mangini’s 3-4 defensive scheme with the New York Jets, and fighting through a severe knee injury that ended his 2007 season after seven games, Vilma’s healthy and happy again.

That can only bode well for the Saints and their 4-3 defense.

It was four seasons ago when Vilma brought the same excitement to the Jets as the 12th pick in the NFL draft out of the University of Miami. His speed and aggressive hitting from sideline to sideline was something everyone noted. His trip to the 2005 Pro Bowl proved he was among the best linebackers in the league.

But that was playing in a 4-3 scheme, one in which Vilma held down the middle linebacker position on a defense designed to attack. He made three interceptions his rookie year, and in his second season, had 124 solo tackles, 169 overall. He forced four fumbles in 2005 and disrupted five passes.

Then Mangini took over the Jets and switched the defensive alignment to a 3-4. Vilma was one of two inside linebackers in the new scheme, but the defense played with more of a read-and-react personality. After the switch to the 3-4, his interceptions went down and he finished third on the team in solo tackles.

After the injury, Vilma basically was allowed to broker a deal.

“The reality was that if there was a possibility of
me being traded, I wanted to be proactive and involved in
it,” he said to Newsday, shortly after the trade that
sent him to New Orleans in exchange for a conditional 2009
draft pick. “I would have loved to have been back with
the Jets. I loved the Jets.”

Now?

“I’m excited about it, excited to be on a new
team,” Vilma said after another hot practice. “I
have brought nothing but positives. I just want to win. I
want to bring a winning attitude to this defense and help
guys win. The transition has been smooth. My teammates have
helped that a lot.”

But the 6-foot-1, 230-pounder isn’t necessarily
running first team. Vilma gets reps with the top unit, but
he still is splitting time with incumbent starter Mark
Simoneau.

But Vilma is healthy, and he’s working hard.

“We’re rotating those guys,” Saints Coach
Sean Payton said. “There’s great competition right
there at that position. . . . They’re both getting a
lot of work, getting adjusted to the earpiece system the
defenders are going to have now and getting the signals from
(linebackers coach) Joe Vitt throughout the course of
practice.

“He’s moving well. He’s healthy. He has no
ill effects from the surgery and that’s
encouraging.”

Both Simoneau and Vilma are happy to be competing.

“The competition is great,” Vilma said.
“You’ve got Mark Simoneau, a proven player, great
player, so that makes me play harder. I hope I’m making
him better. It’s always great to have competition.
Whatever happens from there happens.”

For the second consecutive year, the Saints have tried to
upgrade their middle linebacker play. Last year they brought
in Brian Simmons from Cincinnati. But Simoneau won that
battle.

“That’s the NFL,” Simoneau said.
“There’s always going to be competition. I just
look at it as a challenge. Jonathan’s done great things
in this league, he’s coming off an injury, and he seems
to be completely healthy now, so he will be great
competition.

“There are a few guys who have the luxury of not
having to deal with that, but you have to do your best and
let things happen as they will.

“Overall, we’re just trying to upgrade the
position on the team. We want to be better than we were last
year. We want to get better players on this team. I
don’t look at it as a slap in the face. It gives me a
chance to compete, and that’s all you can ask for. Do
your best and let things fall as they will.”

Whoever starts, Vilma said the Saints’ defense knows
it needs to be better than in 2007.

“This defense can be a whole lot better,” he
said “Last year, (30th) in the passing game, you can do
nothing but improve from there. But it’s one thing to
improve, and it’s another to be a top-tier defense. We
want to improve, but we want to be up there with the best.

“It takes a little bit of everything. A little
improvement on tackling, on scheme, on technique. Guys want
to improve a little bit, and if they do, the defense gets
better.

“I’m seeing from the first day that guys are
really trying to get better and improve. You don’t see
guys taking plays off. ”

Payton said his team needs to improve in many areas on
defense, not merely at middle linebacker.

“It would be hard to just point to one thing,”
he said. “When we spent time in the offseason at what
we could improve on, we gave up an awful amount of big plays
where you might be playing your technique and playing the
proper defense and on one given play you give up a 40-yard
chunk. Good defenses are team defenses.”

But Vilma has been with the team long enough to see where
the strength of this defense is.

“It’s definitely the guys up front. We have a
really talented defensive line; a really talented set of
defensive ends,” he said. “They’re going to
be able to carry us. We’re going to hold our own at
linebacker and at defensive back, but we’re going to
really count on the defensive line to get the job
done.”

Written by admin · Filed Under New Orleans Saints News

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