Eagles' DeMeco Ryans, Mychal Kendricks have time to knock rust off

YESTERDAY WAS officially "hey, don't worry, it's just preseason" day down at the NovaCare Complex.

You could see this one coming. Reporters spent Saturday night and Sunday exclaiming over Sam Bradford's perfect evening and the Eagles' 38.3 points per preseason game offensive juggernaut. By yesterday, as the fan base started tuning up its tailgating fleet for Santa Clara and Super Bowl 50, it was time to balance the scales and delve into perceived problems.

But the starters began the day with a full two-week gap yawning between them and the season opener, Sept. 14 at Atlanta. They won't play in Thursday's preseason finale against the Jets. In that context, no injury seems serious, no failing seems all that hard to correct.

DeMeco Ryans, last seen laboring unsuccessfully to keep up with Packers rookie wideout Ty Montgomery during what became a 52-yard run-and-catch, agreed that his first live action since Achilles' surgery last November left a bit to be desired.

A reporter gently noted that Ryans and fellow inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks - who whiffed on the tackle after Montgomery beat Ryans for the catch - looked as if they hadn't played in a while.

"We hadn't," Ryans said. "To me, it was like a typical first preseason game back. I think it'll be fine . . . It was not my best outing. Something to start from, something to improve on."

Is Ryans moving as well as he'd like?

"Oh, no. Not right now. I'm getting there, though," he said.

Kendricks, normally a sure tackler, did the same thing on a screen, shooting and missing, a step or two from where he needed to be to make the tackle. Kendricks, who signed a $29 million contract extension last week, missed the first two preseason games with a hamstring problem.

"It was just OK," Kendricks said. "Couldn't even get into the full swing of things, 'cause we only had a quarter and a half."

Kendricks added that he hadn't prepped for rookie quarterback Brett Hundley, a dangerous if erratic playmaker Kendricks knew through his brother Eric. Hundley and Eric Kendricks, now with the Vikings, were UCLA teammates.

"We were in there, had some rust, were introduced to the game. I didn't practice for, like, two weeks, came back, practiced two days and played in the game. I'm knocking some rust off, for sure," Kendricks said. "I made a couple plays, missed a couple plays, learned."

Chip Kelly said one area of concern for him with the first-team defense was that the Packers' first touchdown drive featured three Eagles penalties. One of those was pass interference on Kendricks, the play before the touchdown.

"I think there were too many penalties on the defensive side that extended drives," Kelly said.

"Those were all aggressive penalties, try-hard penalties," Kendricks said. "Not like a stupid penalty, like an intentional roughing the passer, or offsides, [not] mental errors."

At least Ryans and Kendricks got their reps - Ryans 20 snaps, Kendricks 26. Kiko Alonso, the inside linebacker the Eagles got from Buffalo for LeSean McCoy, seems destined to go into the regular season without having played a down with his new team.

Alonso was scheduled to play Saturday, but Kelly said he was bothered by nagging tendinitis in the pregame warmup and sat out. Kelly said Saturday that this had nothing to do with Alonso's ACL surgery. Alonso participated in yesterday's light practice but told reporters he has a nagging knee injury. He did not say whether the injury is to his repaired left knee. He did say he expects to be fine for the opener.

Of course, defensive coordinator Bill Davis will not see Ryans, Alonso and Kendricks on the field together in a game before the opener.

"I don't think it'll be a problem," Kendricks said. "We practice, and we all have the same responsibility . . . He's not going to do anything different than me and DeMeco in there."

"It'll be the first time we get live action together, but it's not going to be that much different," Ryans said.

As Kelly noted after Saturday's game, both teams had tremendous success with screens. You can probably expect both the Packers' and the Eagles' defenses to look less flat-footed in the regular season.

Hundley, the Packers' third quarterback, behind Aaron Rodgers and Scott Tolzien, shook off an early pick-six to complete 22 of 31 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns, against various Eagles' defensive groupings.

"I don't think it's a big concern, nothing like we're going to just, like, run around with our heads on fire in practice," said second-round rookie corner Eric Rowe, who was one of Hundley's victims. Rowe played 51 snaps, the most of any Eagles defender.

"Obviously, it's a concern, you don't want that to happen, but the first half, we were just beatin' 'em up, and I think the second half, we just kind of relaxed just a little bit, kinda got off our game, played to their tempo," Rowe said. "It's nothing to be concerned about, for the whole year or anything."

"We didn't game-plan these guys, or anything like that," Ryans said. "A lot of times, people put so much into the preseason, make it more than what it is."

Three years ago, when Ryans came to the Eagles to play 4-3 middle linebacker, he had quite a few shaky moments; on Comcast SportsNet, as the Eagles prepared for the 2012 season, veteran analyst Brian Baldinger identified Ryans as a possible surprise cut.

Ryans recalled that hubbub yesterday, and his reaction, which he repeated:

"It's just preseason, guys."

Of course, that applies equally to the good stuff and the bad stuff.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian