Eagles inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans is making a speedy recovery from the torn Achilles he suffered midway through last season — the second Achilles rupture of his career — and he’s expecting a full return for training camp.
Ryans, appearing Thursday on Comcast SportsNet’s Quick Slants, said no setbacks have occurred during his rehabilitation and that his second bout with Achilles repair surgery is faring better than his first one.
“My recovery is going really great,” he said. “I haven’t had any setbacks. Everything is right on schedule. I’ve been out on the field doing some running, put the cleats on last week, doing some position drills. I’m in the weight room lifting with guys, doing everything they’ve been doing.
“I feel really good with where I am right now in the recovery phase. With the OTAs (organized team activities) and minicamps, I’ll ease my way back into those. I’m not going to rush it. But I’ll definitely be ready to go full go during training camp.”
The Eagles haven’t yet announced a start date for training camp likely in late July. The first OTAs start May 26. Ryans, who turns 31 in July, recently signed a contract extension through 2016 that will preserve his roster spot for 2015.
He’s been a starter since the Eagles traded for him before the 2012 season until tearing his Achilles on Nov. 2 against the Texans, the team that drafted him with the first pick in the second round in 2006 out of Alabama.
Ryans’ latest injury occurred in almost the exact same part of the field where he had suffered his first rupture.
“It was really tough,” he said. “I felt like this was going to be a special game for me, going back to Houston, playing against my old teammates. It was something I was really looking forward to, really looking forward to having a big day then it happens. Snap my Achilles.
“It’s unfortunate. I did the same thing in the same position back on that field in 2010. I’m not looking forward to gong to Houston anytime soon to play in a game. It was definitely a setback for me, definitely a tough time, but I’ve been through it before so I knew I could bounce back from it.
“This time my rehab is going a lot better than it did in 2010. You can have setbacks and fall down in your career, but it’s all about how you rebound from it, how you step up and recover, and I feel like I’m going to do a fantastic job with that this year.”