Philadelphia Eagles roundup: Kendricks frustrated, Douglas gets new digs
Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks still isn’t happy, but his vice president of player personnel, Joe Douglas, sure is.
Just about every Philadelphia Eagles fan has rediscovered his love for linebacker Mychal Kendricks. Formerly the subject of trade rumors, mostly due to the expensive nature of his contract, Kendricks managed to hang around. A big reason for that was how thin the Eagles were at linebacker. Another reason for that is how he turned it on during the preseason (more on that later). According to reports, he’s still frustrated, but Joe Douglas sure isn’t.
Philadelphia thinks the world of their vice president of player personnel. According to Paul Domowitch of The Inquirer, they think so much of Douglas that they removed the Spanish radio team from their game suite and have now given said suite to Douglas. Last season, he watched home games from the press box. Going forward, he’ll be in more comfortable surroundings.
The Spanish radio team is now in the corner of one of the end zones. Unfortunately, they’ll have to work with an obstructed view.
And now back to Kendricks:
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Aside from the fact that so many NFL teams trot out three wide receivers on so many plays (especially third down), there’s really no reason to warrant Kendricks getting more playing time. He’s exceeded expectations. As mentioned, he shined throughout the preseason. That’s continued, and now he’s tallied 12 tackles, three pass deflections and a quarterback sack.
Kendricks who only played in a little under 27 percent of the defensive snaps a season ago saw that number rise to 37 percent during the first two weeks of the 2017 season. Last week, he was in 49 percent of the time, but that’s primarily because Philly was without the services of middle linebacker Jordan Hicks. He sat out most of the week three contest because of an ankle injury.
Kendricks hasn’t been shy about voicing his displeasure with his playing time. “I haven’t been able to play. I could have been doing this”, said Philly’s ultra-talented linebacker. “You only have so much time to do this, man. I can’t even say, ‘Oh, I’m excited,’ because I’ve been there, done that.”
Next: Jordan Hicks plans to play this week
Hicks turned 27 on September 28th, and his concern is he’s wasting too many of his prime years trying to get on the field. “Your prime. You’re in your prime..I don’t know. Who knows, man? All I can do is do what I do.”
Kendricks has handled his situation with the Eagles like a professional. Fans and the Eagles brass can appreciate that, but when you think about the fact that this guy’s a competitor, you have to understand where he’s coming from.