Aug/07/08 07:09 PM Filed in:
Jonathan
Vilma
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Any
lingering aggravation from Jonathan Vilma's
difficult final season in New York is confined to
the intermittent soreness in his surgically
repaired right knee.
There's no hint of bitterness when the former Pro Bowl
linebacker and two-time defensive captain discusses how
and why his value to the Jets plummeted after Eric
Mangini took over as head coach two years ago.
"It ended up working out better for both sides, me
coming here," Vilma said after a recent training camp
practice with his new team, the New Orleans Saints. "I
don't have any regrets."
Vilma was the Jets' first-round draft pick in 2004 and
became an immediate star. After making 118 tackles and
three interceptions in his first season, he was named
the Associated Press defensive rookie of the year. The
next season, he was in on 187 tackles and was selected
for the Pro Bowl.
In 2006, however, Mangini was hired and replaced the
Jets' three-linebacker scheme with a four-linebacker
formation that he knew from his time as an assistant
with New England.
"Mangini came in and that's what he was accustomed to,"
said Vilma, who had never played in a 3-4 defense. "He
had won Super Bowls in that defense, so you can't fault
him for wanting to go with that."
The switch required Vilma, who is 6-foot-1, 230-pounds,
to take on blocks from offensive linemen who easily
outweighed him. 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 at the line of
scrimmage.
Vilma's tackle total fell to 116 in his third season,
slightly lower than in his rookie year. Last year, a
serious knee injury forced him to miss the last nine
weeks of the season.
Vilma sensed he needed a change, and asked the Jets for
permission to seek a trade. The Jets agreed, and Vilma
lobbied for a deal with the Saints, who use the 4-3
alignment in which Vilma had thrived both in college at
Miami and in his first two pro seasons.
New York accommodated Vilma, trading him to the Saints
for a fourth-round pick and the possibility of a
second- or third-round pick in 2009 if Vilma reaches
certain playing incentives and signs an extension with
New Orleans after this season.
The Saints saw Vilma as a player whose combination of
talent and intelligence could help on the field and in
the locker room.
Vilma has been limited in practice during the early
days of training camp and he won't play in the Saints'
first exhibition game Thursday night in Arizona.
(heraldstandard.com)