NFL: Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals
Oct 26, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Robert Hughes (39) is tackled by Philadelphia Eagles inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks (95) during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
(Matt Kartozian)
GLENDALE, AZ — It appears the Eagles are going to bring inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks along slowly after he returned in limited action in Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Kendricks, sidelined since injuring his calf against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2, exclusively played when the Eagles were in the dime formation Sunday afternoon.
"I felt good," Kendricks said afterwards. "As far coming back and stuff, I felt good. They wanted to limit [me.] That was just to keep things safe."
The second-year linebacker said that he's going to take it "one day at a time" when it comes to returning to a full workload.
Kendricks finished with two tackles and said that he didn't have any concerns about his calf would react to getting back into game action.
"No, I knew I was ready. That I was going to play," Kendricks said. "Things change as the game goes on so it was just a thing on how I felt and I felt good."
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly came away impressed by Kendricks' performance in his return.
"He was in there a lot," Kelly said. "I think we just used him exclusively in the dime package, so we can kind of limit him because he didn't practice and take all the reps during the week.
"So when he was practicing, if we'd put him in dime situations, he'd feel comfortable in us putting him out there when we were going to be in dime based on their personnel."
How Kendricks' calf reacts to playing in the game and his ability to take on expanded role in practice this week could go a long way towards determining if he is able to return to a full workload Sunday when the Eagles travel to Houston to take on the Texans.
For a look back at the Eagles loss to the Cardinals, please click on the photo gallery below.
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