It was a sign of respect for a true leader when players from both teams surrounded the fallen DeMeco Ryans yesterday.
And now the Eagles are faced with the prospect of losing their leader on defense, an absence that could transcend simply being without their starting quarterback. Ryans was lost for the season with a torn right Achilles, the second time that’s happened to him in his career. The first , his left, was with the Texans, which is why they gathered around as he was carted off as well.
“He’s the true leader of our defense. ... He’s Mufasa. He’s our guy,” Eagles coach Chip Kelly said, via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. “When a warrior goes down, you pick up his shield and you go play in honor of him, and I think that’s what our guys did.”
His loss leaves the Eagles with a hole one player won’t be able to fill.
“That’s such a crushing blow,” defensive coordinator Bill Davis said. “He’s been playing great, but he’s just such a good person and he means so much to us. For a lot of the young guys, he’s been a mentor to them. When that happened, it was like a punch in the gut. You have to regroup and put it out of your mind and just go back out and play football, and we were able to do that.”
Casey Matthews stood in his spot yesterday, while fellow inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks is going to have to become more vocal and lend some stability to the defense.
But somebody is going to have to become Simba, and they better do it fast.
