National Football League

Matthews happy to do what Packers ask but prefers outside linebacker

Published Nov. 13, 2014 6:36 p.m. ET

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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mike McCarthy approached Clay Matthews after the Green Bay Packers' bye week to tell the star outside linebacker that the defense planned to begin using him at a different position. The run defense had been struggling mightily as the NFL's last-ranked team in that category and the inside linebacker spot didn't have nearly the quality of depth the Packers had at outside linebacker.

Matthews' initial reaction to McCarthy was positive.

"I said, 'Sure,'" Matthews recalled Thursday. I was all for it."

As Green Bay unveiled this midseason change in Week 10 against Chicago, it could not have gone any better. Matthews had a career-high 11 tackles and one sack. Matthews insisted it should have been two sacks, though, because he was not fined by the league for the play in which he was penalized for making contact with Jay Cutler's head.

But in the days following the Packers' 55-14 win over the Bears, Matthews played video games with his younger brother Casey (an inside linebacker for Green Bay's next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles) and talked a bit about the position switch. Casey got the sense that his older sibling still wasn't sold on the move.

"I don't think he liked too much about it," Casey Matthews told reporters in Philadelphia. "He likes getting after the passer, taking on the linemen . . . I told him to look at it this way: He's the highest-paid inside linebacker in the league. He got a laugh out of that."

Several of Clay Matthews' teammates heard about what Casey said.

"Yeah, I got some heat from a few of the guys around here about that," Clay said. "But, no, there's not much truth to that. I think any time there's a position change, there's some hesitation obviously with what I was comfortable doing."

Matthews spoke at length about the positives and negatives associated with having to play somewhere other than his natural, preferred position on the field.

He seemed happy to do what was best for the team, but there's also a part of him that showed why Casey got the impression it wasn't an entirely welcomed change.

"In a perfect world, I'd love to line up outside 100 percent of the time, get sacks," Matthews said. "But we were able to do that from a different position. It worked out."

It worked out so well that, even if Matthews' teammates weren't completely convinced he liked playing inside linebacker before, they assumed he must like it now.

"The way he played, you would think he loved it," cornerback Tramon Williams said. "You never know; it's still a new position. Even though he played well, maybe his comfort level wasn't there in that point and time. If he gets more reps, maybe he'll get a little more comfortable."

Casey's comments weren't gamesmanship leading into a pivotal matchup between the 6-3 Packers and 7-2 Eagles. Clay didn't think his brother was even capable of intentionally choosing those words as a means of causing trouble.

"That's not Casey at all," Clay said. "He doesn't like the media. . . . He's a quiet kid. I think sometimes he just talks, and you guys want to take it the way you want to take it. You've got to be PC sometimes. I don't expect that from him whatsoever. . . . I don't think he's that smart (to play mind games). He's an inside 'backer, after all."

That also means Casey wasn't necessarily wrong about the situation with Clay.

"Obviously he's my brother, so we have a little insight into each other and how we behave and how we act," Clay said. "That's his opinion. At the end of the day, when you finish with 11 tackles and two sacks, then it's a pretty good game."

Regardless of Casey's intentions or Clay's true feelings, what Green Bay asked the four-time Pro Bowl selection to do was not easy. Matthews made it look easy, but it's not.

He took a crash course on playing inside linebacker and had little time to get ready. Naturally, that led to some uncertainty for Matthews.

"As a confidence level in myself, it wasn't the highest just because I had a week's worth of preparation going into the game," Matthews said. "Obviously I've had several years of pass-rushing and work at that outside linebacker position. You never know how it's going to turn out, especially in live action when you're not going against scout team or your defense or walk-through.

"That being said, it obviously worked out well. Everything was as planned. I got a lot of help from A.J. (Hawk) in there, as well as my safeties, getting me lined up at times. Just confirming what my job responsibility was out there. That made it a lot easier. Obviously the way the game went was kind of a perfect transition into that position. Any time you can get that type of lead, force them to be somewhat one-dimensional, makes everybody's job on the field that much easier."

With Matthews playing so well at inside linebacker, defensive coordinator Dom Capers kept him there more often than not against Chicago. Of Matthews' 55 snaps, 38 were at inside linebacker.

"The extent in which we ran it, I think that was a little surprising at first," Matthews said.

Of course, given the success the Packers had defensively with Matthews at inside linebacker, it's unlikely to stop any time soon. If it keeps working, Matthews might soon end up really liking it.

"You put someone in positions to make plays like that, and you come up with making those plays, you're obviously a little more warm to the idea of playing those different personnel changes," Matthews said. "I mean, if I had no action the other night, I'd probably be saying, 'Hey, put me at safety or somewhere where you can figure out how I can get after the ball.'

"I think that's what we were going for. I think it worked out."

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