With Sam Barrington done for the season, the Green Bay Packers have turned to Nate Palmer at inside linebacker. And since Barrington handled all of the defensive calls, Palmer will now handle those… except when he doesn’t.
The Green Bay Packers’ other starting inside linebacker, who they like to pretend is still an outside linebacker, Clay Matthews, is also taking on some added responsibility.
Matthews and Palmer will both wear headsets in their helmets on Sunday.
The Packers are saying Matthews could be making some calls and that’s noteworthy for a few reasons.
First, Matthews has been playing inside linebacker for less than a year. He was moved inside at the midway point of the 2014 season, so he’s still relatively new to the position. And now he’s going to be at least partially responsible for quarterbacking the defense.
You’re probably saying, “Well, of course he is. Matthews is just as good an option as Palmer.”
And maybe that’s true.
But, and that brings us to our second point — Clay Matthews wanted nothing to do with this.
He didn’t want to be an inside linebacker, he’s always been overly worried about stats (sacks, in particular), and most importantly, he’s proven time and again he isn’t a leader.
And that brings us to our third point.
Don’t misconstrue what we’re saying. Matthews is a good player. He’s just not a leader.
Never has been, despite him paying some lip service to the idea back when he signed his huge contract.
The evidence here is strong.
The Packers wanted Matthews to step into a leadership role when they released Charles Woodson. All they got was a leadership void.
Fast forward to last season, where it became crystal clear. Julius Peppers and Morgan Burnett were chosen as defensive captains over Matthews and then there was the whole quitting in the NFC Championship game incident. When he finally spoke about it, Matthews’ excuse was, “Got to take care of No. 1.”
Leaders take care of the team. They also play through pain.
And yet, here’s Clay Matthews thrust into a leadership role, whether he wants it or not.
Our guess is, he does not.