Mychal Kendricks injury: Eagles linebacker says he will return to practice

The Philadelphia Eagles appear to be well-rested coming off of their Week 7 bye. One of the players in need of that rest was injured starting inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks. Kendricks, who has been out with a calf injury since Week 2, posted a lengthy message on his personal website (www.MychalKendricks.com) on Monday morning regarding his injury situation. Most notably, the third-year linebacker noted that he expects to return to practice this week.

I’ll be in practice this week pushing forward to do what I set out to complete while not seeing this as a setback but as a way forward.

Kendricks' post, titled "An injury, the lessons, and the future.", also touched on a number of other topics. Included was the perspective he gained while sitting out due to injury:

I love the Philadelphia Eagles and all that we stand for and overall we are moving towards a much better team, not just on the field but off it as well. So watching our team thrive on the sideline has been great, but I can’t help but want to be apart of what we are building on the field. After the release of my bitterness came acceptance because it’s better I come back fresh from an injury than attempt to overwork myself and end up injuring myself further. After a short while I realized that there is a sideline advantage; instead of "watching", I began "observing" the game. After knowing that I wasn’t going to get to play first frustrated me, acceptance gave me a chance to look at the game as a coach. So I began observing more intently and taking advantage of seeing the game from this perspective, since I don’t plan on being injured or not playing, this is something that I will probably not have been able to be acquainted with. Though I wanted so badly to play in every game, and jump in to every play, my acceptance of the reality, helped me see that what was to be gained was to continue to support my team and take in the game from this perspective while still learning and growing from this perspective.

Read the entire piece for more of his thoughts.

The return of Kendricks is obviously great news for Philadelphia. The team has had to use the combination of backup linebackers Casey Matthews, Emmanuel Acho, and first round rookie Marcus Smith II to replace Kendricks in his absence. While that trio was relatively serviceable, none of those players can make up for the explosive talent Philadelphia's full-time starter offers. The return of Kendricks should give the Eagles defense a noticeable boost. Kendricks is easily one of the team's best pass rushers and it's a little crazy to think Philadelphia has managed 16 sacks in their past three games without him.

The Eagles return to practice on Tuesday as they prepare to take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. It will be interesting to see if Kendricks is a full participant right away or if he will be eased in. Stay tuned for more updates on his status as they become available.