Jordan Hicks Says Injury Is ‘Nothing Serious’

Jordan Hicks. (Jeff Fusco)

After a torn left pectoral tendon ended Jordan Hicks’ season last year, the second-year linebacker has been limited during offseason activities recently in OTAs and mandatory minicamp. This time, it’s a quad spasm bothering the 23-year-old who also suffered two season-ending injuries in college, but he says it’s nothing to worry about.

“It’s nothing serious, man. I’ve been through so much worse. We’re talking about a quad,” Hicks said. “I think, mainly, it happened from rehabbing (the torn pec) and really being a little light [in my preparation]. It limited me on what I did in the offseason. … I think just jumping right back into it full speed ahead was what kind of what (did it).”

Although Doug Pederson said his starting MIKE linebacker would be limited this week, Hicks did practice some during team drills yesterday. While the Eagles’ head coach described the quad spasm as a “nagging, lingering injury that (Hicks) has had,” he added that he’s looking forward to Hicks being completely healthy by the time training camp begins.

Hicks noted that Nigel Bradham has been a significant help to the other linebackers learning Jim Schwartz’s new scheme, but the Texas product does have experience playing each of the 4-3 linebacker positions.

“Being able to have that experience in college — I can relate things from back then to right now,” Hicks said. “Whenever you can twist things in your mind and make it make sense for you, it slows down the whole thing.”

Mychal Kendricks added that “there’s no rush” for Hicks to come back and that he’s not concerned at all that Hicks is missing some practice repetitions because of his football IQ. He also pointed to Fletcher Cox’s return this week as the one thing that will really help the linebackers.

“It means everything,” Kendricks said. “I feel, as a player, I need him to do the things I do. He wrecks shop up front and I come through and I clean it up. We work well together. It means a lot.”

Malcolm Jenkins shared Kendricks’ excitement, explaining that everything the defense does “starts with the front four.” Jenkins later cited Schwartz’s mindset as the other big reason he’s happy to be in this new scheme.

“Half of what you do on defense is about your demeanor and your attitude about attacking offenses,” Jenkins said. “It’s not necessarily all about X’s and O’s. Every defense you call is just another way to keep 11 guys inside of your defense. It’s how you attack ballcarriers, how you attack the offensive line [and] how you attack quarterbacks that really separates you when it comes to defense. That’s just a mentality, so to have a coach who only wants guys with that mentality who are fighters and are attackers that push the pace, I think that’s good.”