Mychal Kendricks playing less, putting ego 'in check'
Eagles veteran Mychal Kendricks saw the field for just 19 snaps on Sunday. His playing time - 37 percent of defensive snaps - was the lowest of his career when he was healthy for an entire game. Even last season, when he was part of a linebacker rotation, he played more.
Eagles veteran Mychal Kendricks saw the field for just 19 snaps on Sunday. His playing time - 37 percent of defensive snaps - was the lowest of his career when he was healthy for an entire game. Even last season, when he was part of a linebacker rotation, he played more.
But Kendricks' role isn't changing and he admitted on Thursday, in his first extensive interview in almost a month, that he is still coming to grips with being a part-time player.
"I've just got to make do and take advantage of the reps I'm getting," Kendricks said. "I think it's natural for any football player who wants to play to be a little frustrated at times when reps are taken back."
Kendricks is now simply a base defense linebacker. He was an every-down defender at the start of training camp, but he injured his hamstring on Aug. 7 and missed the next two weeks, and when he returned Nigel Bradham had taken over his spot in the nickel package with Jordan Hicks.
"It's the NFL. You've got to play and we have a lot of good [linebackers]," Kendricks said. "When I was down, guys were up and they were able to showcase what they can do in that package."
But Hicks and Bradham combined don't make as much as Kendricks, who signed a four-year, $29 million contract before last season. And neither has called himself the "new prototype" for linebackers, as Kendricks did after he signed the new deal.
He said he still felt that way, while also acknowledging that he isn't asked to blitz as much in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's new 4-3 scheme.
"I'm not putting my ego aside. I'm just putting it in check," Kendricks said. "Trust me, that [stuff] is very much there. And quote that. Write that [stuff]."
Eagles coach Doug Pederson initially said that Kendricks would be back from the hamstring strain by Aug. 13. But he was sidelined for another week. When Kendricks returned, he was the only starter to play deep into the fourth quarter of the third preseason game and also in the preseason finale.
He declined to speak with reporters after both games.
"I'm a football player. I'm going to want to play regardless," Kendricks said. "But I think that at the time I really didn't know what to say. I knew [reporters] were going to have a ton of questions, and at the time I was still trying to figure things out, too."
Kendricks has a history with soft-tissue injuries. He missed four games to a calf strain in 2014 and three to a hamstring last season. In the spring, he said that his health had kept him from becoming an elite linebacker.
"Whether [Eagles coaches] were frustrated or not - I was frustrated," Kendricks said of his most recent injury. "If there's anyone who was frustrated, it was me. Second time hamstring, same leg, different muscle. Those are the things you can't control."
He also can't control his future with the Eagles. He has three years left on his contract, but none of the remaining money is fully guaranteed. Next year, his salary-cap number jumps from $4.6 million to $6.6 million - a large chunk of change for a role player.
Kendricks said that every NFL player is "renting space all the time," and that he hasn't considered the possibility of not being in Philly next year. Asked to look at himself critically, Kendricks said, "I know what I'm capable of doing" and pondered the question for a moment before answering again.
"I do a lot of things right," he said. "I'm still human. I'm not perfect. I can't worry about the things I can't control. But the only thing I can control is how hard I work. So I guess I just have to keep working hard."
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