METAIRIE, La. —
Jonathan Vilma sank into a sofa in the Saints'
training centre with a TV remote in his hand and
clicked through a few newscasts before his head
tilted back and he fell asleep.
And why wouldn't he need a nap? The Saints' middle
linebacker has been on field for every defensive play
through New Orleans' first six games and leads the team
in tackles with 56.
Then there's the time he spends in practice and
meetings learning the jobs of his defensive teammates.
"It's like having a quarterback who knows what he's
supposed to do on offence," Saints defensive tackle
Brian Young said of Vilma. "If you've got a guy who's
back there and basically telling everybody what to do
and where to go, you've got confidence, you don't have
to worry about as much. ... You just go out there and
play, so it makes it a lot easier."
Vilma even talks like a quarterback sometimes,
crediting the linemen who play in front of him every
time someone asks him about making double-digit tackles
in a game.
"Any time the media thinks I have a good game, it's
strictly because of what my D-line does," Vilma said
after making 11 tackles against Oakland last Sunday.
"The D-line knows I appreciate them very much."
In New Orleans, the comparison of Vilma to a
quarterback is fitting in another way. The Saints took
a chance on the former Jets star in much the same way
they did in 2006 with Drew Brees, who was jettisoned by
San Diego following a serious injury to his throwing
shoulder.
Three seasons later, the Saints look pretty smart for
bringing in Brees. So far, last winter's trade for
Vilma doesn't look too bad, either.
Vilma, a first-round draft choice out of Miami in 2004,
was a Pro Bowl linebacker with the Jets in 2005. Then a
switch in defensive schemes, followed by a serious knee
injury, made him expendable in New York.
The Saints were able to get him for a fourth-round
draft choice last spring and a conditional pick next
season, likely in the third round.
The hope was that Vilma, like Brees, would overcome
injury and thrive in a scheme that suited his
strengths.
The Saints play a 4-3 defence (four down linemen and
three linebackers), the same scheme the Jets used when
Vilma was 2004 Defensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro
Bowl selection the next season, when he led the NFL in
tackles with 187.
In 2006, however, the Jets hired coach Eric Mangini,
who replaced a three-linebacker scheme with a
four-linebacker formation that he knew from his time as
an assistant with New England.
The switch required Vilma, who is six-foot-one,
230-pounds, to take on blocks from offensive linemen
who outweighed him significantly. What he lacked in
size he sought to make up in quickness. Still, he
wasn't the dominant linebacker he had been when he
played behind four down linemen who ate up more
blockers and allowed the linebackers to focus on
pursuing the ball carrier.
Vilma's knee injury forced him to miss the last nine
weeks of 2007 and required painful surgery involving a
bone graft. He had muscle atrophy in his leg and had to
work throughout the off-season to rebuild his strength
and quickness.
"The anticipation of whatever play's coming and being
able to just go sideline to sideline - that was
something I was never going to know until I actually
started playing back in training camp," Vilma said.
"Now I feel good about where I'm at. I think I'm able
to make those plays and it's comforting knowing that my
knee hasn't been an issue and hopefully it won't be."
Vilma hardly appeared limited last Sunday, when he
quickly slid off an attempted block near the line of
scrimmage, lowered his shoulder into Darren McFadden
and planted the Raiders' standout rusher on his back.
"I remember watching him when he was in college making
big-time open field hits," Saints linebacker Scott
Fujita said of Vilma. "It's hard to get a guy down in
the open field. A lot of times you're just grabbing
cloth and trying to grab shoelaces, but he does such a
good job in open space and hitting guys one-on-one and
bringing them down right there on the spot."
The Carolina Panthers, who host the Saints this Sunday,
have taken notice of Vilma's resurgence. Coach John Fox
and quarterback Jake Delhomme both referred to Vilma
when discussing the recent improvement of the Saints'
defence, which has yet to allow a 100-yard rusher.
Carolina linebacker Jon Beason, another former Miami
Hurricane, said he thought Vilma would thrive once he
returned to a 4-3 defence in which the middle
linebacker runs the show.
"It's what he's used to, him being the man," Beason
said. "He's a smart player. He's where he needs to be.
He's not going to make any mistakes. And he's an
intense guy."
(ap.com)