Davis rolling with the injury punches at ILB

For the second straight year, injuries at inside linebacker are wreaking havoc with Bill Davis' defense.

Last year, DeMeco Ryans missed the last eight games with a torn Achilles, Mychal Kendricks missed four games and parts of two others with a calf injury, and Najeh Goode spent all but one game on injured reserve with a pectoral injury.

This season, Kiko Alonso has missed five games with a knee injury; Kendricks, three with a hamstring injury; and Ryans, two with a hamstring.

No sooner did Alonso return Sunday night against Dallas than rookie Jordan Hicks, who just might have been the team's MVP the first half of the season, tore a pectoral muscle trying to make a tackle late in the fourth quarter and is gone for the season.

"It's a big hit,'' Davis said of Hicks' injury, which isn't something you'd ever think you would have heard him say two months ago.

"Jordan did a great job of bringing himself into the conversation of a main rotation guy. It's a shame he only made it halfway through the season. He was coming along strong and would've been a rookie-of-the-year candidate without question.

"He'll get everything fixed and we'll move on and we're back to the guys we originally started with. And they go day to day.''

Davis is hopeful of getting Ryans back this week. He practiced Tuesday, but that means little. Davis said it's a day-to-day situation with Ryans.

"We're very optimistic about it. But I have no way of telling,'' Davis said. "One day out here you're excited, and then a little (setback) thing happens and it's no longer (likely he'll play).''

Alonso played 37 percent of the defensive snaps Sunday night (29 of 78) in his first appearance since his Week 2 knee injury. Davis said he's not quite ready to play 90-95 percent of the snaps yet.

"I think we played him probably the right amount the other night," Davis said. "And we'll take it the right way. Because you'd rather pull him for a couple of less snaps than overload it and then you lose him again.

"With all of the guys that are injured, we try to be a little bit more on the conservative edge so that we have them for longer.''

Asked about Alonso's play against the Cowboys, Davis said, "He was good for the first time back. He's very natural. It takes a little while of playing to get back into that zone. But he had a good Phase 1. Hopefully he takes another step forward this week, and by Game 3, he's where he left off.''

Davis said Kendricks, who played in his second straight game Sunday after missing three of the previous four with a hamstring injury, is close to being back to where he was before his injury.

"With the three weeks of practice under his belt, I anticipate Mychal hitting his stride and being where he was. It usually takes two to three weeks of getting back into practicing every day and playing in the games before you really settle in. So hopefully Mychal is back to where he was.''

--The Eagles have allowed a 100-yard rusher in each of the last two games. Ryans has been sidelined for both of those games, but Davis said that's not an excuse for the unexpected lapse in the run defense.

"Without taking anything away from DeMeco because I love him to death and I think he's a great asset, there's no excuse for the run (defense) the last two weeks. And we've got to get that plugged back up.

"When I look at it through my eyes, I think it goes back to gap discipline and being where you're supposed to be, and tackling. Those are elements of run defense that we have done so well that we've taken a step back.

--Injured left tackle Jason Peters, who told the Daily News' Marcus Hayes after the Dallas game that he will definitely play this week against Miami, didn't practice Tuesday, though that doesn't mean a whole lot given the relative unimportance of Tuesday practices. Safety Malcolm Jenkins also didn't practice. Wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who has missed the last three games with an ankle injury, did practice Tuesday.