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Even as Marvin Lewis breaks down the defensive and special teams side of the roster as the club finishes its first week of on-field coaching sessions Thursday, the new head coach continues to re-shape the Bengals in the image of his defensive scheme.
Looking for just the right mix of athleticism and brains, Lewis has literally turned the linebackers corps inside out in the name of perimeter speed, and re-shuffled the secondary via size and quickness while still sifting through free agency for ends who can give him a little bit of everything against the run and pass.
The defense is finding out first hand that when a new coach comes in, he not only brings a philosophy, but a core of guys he thinks can execute it, and now the holdovers have to respond to keep their jobs or spots on the roster. There could very well be seven players in new slots when comparing last year’s Opening Day starting lineup to the one Lewis sends out on defense Sept. 7 against Jake Plummer’s Broncos.
“We want to attack the offense,.” Lewis said. “They’re going to design a running play to attack a certain area, and we have to do a good job of getting into that area. We’ve got to be able to attack the offense by being able to get anywhere quickly on the field without leaving our feet.”
Looking for just the right mix of athleticism and brains, Lewis has literally turned the linebackers corps inside out in the name of perimeter speed, and re-shuffled the secondary via size and quickness while still sifting through free agency for ends who can give him a little bit of everything against the run and pass.
The defense is finding out first hand that when a new coach comes in, he not only brings a philosophy, but a core of guys he thinks can execute it, and now the holdovers have to respond to keep their jobs or spots on the roster. There could very well be seven players in new slots when comparing last year’s Opening Day starting lineup to the one Lewis sends out on defense Sept. 7 against Jake Plummer’s Broncos.
“We want to attack the offense,.” Lewis said. “They’re going to design a running play to attack a certain area, and we have to do a good job of getting into that area. We’ve got to be able to attack the offense by being able to get anywhere quickly on the field without leaving our feet.”
