When Sean Lee was drafted in the second round of the 2009 draft, the thought was that he was the perfect candidate to replace Bobby Carpenter as the team’s nickel linebacker. Shortly after the selection, in a move that seemed to corroborate such thinking, Carpenter was traded to St. Louis.
So far, this project has been a failure. 34-, and soon to be 35-year-old veteran Keith Brooking has stepped into Carpenter’s former role and, last week, head coach Wade Phillips said, flatly, that he doesn’t think the rookie Lee is suited for the position--”not the way we play it, no,” Phillips said.
But in a recent interview on 105.3 The Fan, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said, uh, not so fast. He’s not quite ready to call the project a failure at all, and in fact, remains quite high on the Penn State product.
“[Lee]'s going to be able to do anything you want him to do at linebacker,” Jones said. “He's as smart as a whip plus he's very instinctive and he's got a work ethic that's unmatched. All of those things in my mind will make him a contributor this year and certainly one in the future.
“There's several things about the nickel linebacker (the spots he's playing). He's real good at two or three of them and he's got some work to do and one or two others. I think that's what Wade was referring to.”
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