Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews - also known as "The Cro-Magnon Man," or more succinctly, "Bam-Bam" - has been an absolute terror since entering the league as a first-round draft pick in 2009. He's made it to four Pro Bowls, amassed 274 tackles, 53.5 sacks, 12 forced fumbles and five interceptions thus far in his career, according to ESPN.
Nearly all of those stats have come for Matthews at outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment arranged by Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Last week against the Chicago Bears, for the first time in his career, Matthews found himself lining up for the majority of his snaps at inside linebacker.
"I turned it on and he was stacked at inside linebacker," Clay's younger brother, Casey Matthews said Monday, according to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News. "I thought it was just the package they were in, but I saw him keep lining up that way. It was funny at first, but he was making plays."
Matthews played well in his new role, posting a career-high of 11 tackles, and adding another notch to his sack belt.
The only problem? Despite his positive contributions, he may not be particularly happy with the move.
"He did well, so you've got to assume he'll play more of it," Casey Matthews said. "I don't think he liked too much about it. He was happy to get that sack [of Jay Cutler], but that was when he was back to outside in the Packers' dime package. 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."
Matthews' position shift may have come in large part because of the team's recent inability to stop the run - they were ranked dead-last in the NFL going into Week 10. In the Packers' previous 12 games, they'd given up at least 100 yards rushing - against the Bears, the team allowed only 55 yards on 24 carries to Matt Forte, one of the best backs in the league.
Still, Packers coach Mike McCarthy would not label Matthews an inside linebacker - or anything really, according to Weston Hodkiewicz of PackersNews.com.
"Clay Matthews is not an inside linebacker. He's a football player," McCarthy said. "It's really, you go back to the meetings in the spring. We talked about it in the OTAs, and the focus was to play more players on defense, move Clay around and create challenges for the offense, so we'll see where he plays this week."
With a dynamic running team in the Philadelphia Eagles coming to town Sunday, expect Matthews to continue on in his role as an inside linebacker and, well, as a football player.
