The Packers started using Clay Matthews as an inside linebacker in their base defense over the last two years, which was a departure from the outside linebacker role he played for the team during the first five seasons of his career.
Matthews made the move to help cover for a weaker group of players on the inside, but the Packers would like to redirect him to his original spot for the 2016 season. On Thursday, Packers coach Mike McCarthy was asked about how Matthews was faring in his return to old stomping grounds during the team’s offseason program.
“I don’t look at it as a transition,” McCarthy said, via the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “He spends pretty much the majority of his time there. We’re in the tempo and teaching environment that you survive in this time of year. So far, so good. He looks good.”
It isn’t a great surprise that Matthews has found his footing at outside linebacker given his earlier experience at the position and the fact that he’d wind up there depending on what defensive package the Packers had on the field in 2015. For the move to have the desired result across the Packers defense, they’ll need Jake Ryan, Sam Barrington and rookie Blake Martinez to do well inside as well.