Eagles put Wolff on season-ending IR

LAST SEASON, Earl Wolff made mistakes, but they tended to be aggressive mistakes, the kind coaches forgive in rookies.

This season, Wolff never really emerged as the challenger to starting safety Nate Allen that the Eagles envisioned. Wolff's play was hesitant, and he still didn't show much of a grasp of the defense. After starting for Allen Nov. 2 in Houston, when Allen rested an ailing hamstring, Wolff was inactive against Carolina and Green Bay - a sure sign that his play against the Texans hadn't excited anyone.

Yesterday, Wolff went on season-ending injured reserve because of a right knee problem that began with the Green Bay game a year ago. The team brought back corner Roc Carmichael, cut at the end of the preseason, and practiced rookie corner/safety Jaylen Watkins exclusively at safety during yesterday's workout.

Wolff and agent Tony Paige said it isn't clear if the 2013 fifth-round draft pick needs surgery; they hope tests in a few days will resolve that question. Wolff said he plans to return next spring fully healthy, with the confidence in his knee that he seems to have lacked all season.

"It just didn't heal completely," said Wolff, who said a recent MRI "showed it wasn't getting better."

Asked exactly what's wrong, Wolff said: "It's like a lesion in my knee, kind of like from the bone. It was small. We thought it was going to heal. It didn't heal, ended up getting kind of bigger. I'm trying to be a tough guy, I tried to push through it. It came down to, I can't push through it anymore."

Wolff said he isn't sure what surgery would entail. Wolff started six times last season, but missed five of the final six games and was ineffective in the one game he played after the Nov. 10 injury. He has been inactive three times this season.

Wolff said Eagles coach Chip Kelly told him he was still in the team's plans.

"The way he goes about doing things, the way the team goes about doing things, they're real honest, with everything," Wolff said. He said Kelly told him: " 'We just want Earl back, flying around, jumping and running.' I feel like that's what will come back, once I get this rest."

Wolff said general manager Howie Roseman told him that watching film of Wolff last year, "It was kind of different. Of course, I felt the same way."

Paige said he does not believe the Eagles have mishandled Wolff's treatment.

"I have my good days and I have my bad days," Wolff said. "It's kind of affected my performance . . . Instead of being in pain every day, just deal with it."

Carmichael, meanwhile, was a fourth-round pick of the Texans in 2011 who played in 13 Eagles games last season and earned decent marks, starting twice and getting a lot of work on special teams. He played quite a bit of corner in this year's preseason and did not fare well. His release wasn't a surprise.

Carmichael said he spent much of his time away in the Houston area, keeping in contact with the Eagles' coaches, fielding nibbles from the Chargers and the Bucs that didn't result in anything.

"I had a feeling I'd be back," he said. Carmichael said Roseman and Kelly told him as much when they cut him. He said he thinks he'll be expected to fit right back into the defense, even though he's missed more than 2 1/2 months, and "help out on special teams."

Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis said Packers running back Eddie Lacy's 32-yard touchdown on a screen, in which Lacy seemed to run through all 11 defenders, was "probably our worst defensive play of the season."

Lacy made it 46-13 just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter. "That's where we hit the frustration mode," Davis said. "That 'Oh, man [look].' . . . We talked about it, addressed it, and this group is a great group of guys. But that's not us, and that won't be who we are."

Defensive lineman Vinny Curry said his own failed attempt at tackling Lacy wasn't really a tackle attempt at all. "I was trying to strip the ball. I probably could have secured the tackle," Curry said, but at that point, given the score, he thought the only way to really help was to get the ball.

"Just looking at the film, we didn't look like us," cornerback Nolan Carroll said. "Guys weren't running to the ball to get him down. That was probably the highlight play that signified the type of night we had. To be down [like] we were, we kind of let that get to us, which we don't ever do as a defense. We fight to the end, and it's kind of hard to look at that play in particular, because we know that's not who we are."

Rookie receiver Josh Huff said he was frustrated with his own play when he seemed to be blaming the coaching he'd gotten for letting Green Bay returner Micah Hyde get past him on a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown. Huff said yesterday he had been told that he came too close to hitting a returner in the Carolina game, that he should "break down" in front of the returner, but he said he left too much room for Hyde. He said impatience and frustration, after a slow start caused by a preseason shoulder injury, have led to numerous miscues . . . Inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks and right guard Matt Tobin didn't practice yesterday, but Tuesday is always the lightest practice day; game-plan installation for Tennessee starts today. If Tobin is dinged, the Eagles might plug Andrew Gardner into his spot.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian