Jonathan Vilma acclimating to new position

METAIRIE, La.—Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma still is working his way back into the mix, while trying to get comfortable at a new position.

The longtime starting middle linebacker played 62 snaps against the Broncos last week, mostly at the nickel linebacker spot with a few snaps at weakside linebacker. It was a giant leap over the 18 snaps he played in his first game back from a knee injury in Week 7.

The Saints used Vilma so heavily because they spent almost the entire night in their nickel defense against the Broncos to guard against Peyton Manning. However, the Broncos combated that strategy by running the ball way more than expected and gashed the Saints for 225 yards on 41 carries. The Broncos used a ton of cutback runs, which got both Saints linebackers Vilma and Curtis Lofton tangled up in traffic for much of the night.

Eventually, Vilma started to do a better job of hanging back to guard against the cutback runs, and he did affect a couple of Manning’s throws when he blitzed. But it’s clear Vilma still is getting his feet back under him after missing the entire offseason.

The Saints are counting on Vilma to adjust quickly to his new position since they want both him and Lofton on the field together as much as possible. The Saints’ front seven needs to be more athletic and aggressive, especially around the edges, where they’ve been allowing too many big cutback runs this year. That will be especially important Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, with dangerous runners like tailback LeSean McCoy and quarterback Michael Vick.


(sportingnews.com)