Packers linebacker Clay Matthews eventually will be moving from the inside back to the outside, and Matthews is happy about it.
“As I’ve continued to say, I think [outside linebacker] is my most natural position, my most impactful position, and I think we’ll see that on a more consistent basis this season,” Matthews said earlier this week, via Ryan Wood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
As Wood points out, it’s still not clear when Matthews will move back outside -- or whether the move will be permanent or complete. Much of it depends on what the young players at the inside linebacker position can do.
“Only time will tell on those things,” defensive coordinator Dom Capers said, via Wood. “You never really know until you get into playing games, and you have the pads on. So many times guys will look one way in OTAs, and then you get into the preseason and it’s a different game when you’ve got the pads on, you’re going full go and that type of thing. I think we’ve got some young guys there that are going to be ascending. We’ve just got to evaluate how much progress they make.”
Implicit in that response is that, if they don’t make progress, Matthews won’t be moving back outside. Even though he clearly wants to get back outside.
“I’ve always tried to be a team player,” Matthews said. “I think I kind of exemplified that in making the switch. I don’t think many players would do that with the success I’d like to think I had on the outside, but I think it really helped this team out.”
The question now is when, and if, the Packers will help Matthews out by taking him out of the inside.
