LOS ANGELES ---Eric Kendricks returned to Westwood late Friday night after a trip home to Fresno.
He wasn’t pleased with what he would encounter when he took the practice field on Saturday afternoon. With Kendricks experiencing soreness in his shoulder, UCLA head coach Jim Mora thought it would be a good day to hold his linebacker out of team activities -- a theoretical day off.
“When I told him he wasn’t going to get to do some of the team stuff today, he probably wanted to strangle me,” Mora said. “He just loves to play football and you love that about him.”
All Kendricks has known since his mom allowed him to play organized football as a sixth-grader is work. He learned that from his older brother, Mychal.
Friday proved to be a culmination of lessons learned from his older brother. In fact, Kendricks' trip was in support of big bro, selected 46th overall in the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Older brother was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season at Cal. Eric was thrilled to be there for him as he realized his dream of making it to the NFL.
“It was indescribable,” he said of hearing his older brother’s name called. “It’s crazy seeing that guy work and all his dreams come true. It’s unreal.”
Eric Kendricks has turned some heads this spring after an opportunity presented itself with the new coaching staff. Though he performed well during practices for the Bruins in 2011, Kendricks didn’t see the field on Saturdays as much as he would have liked.
“It was frustrating,” he said of the 2011 season, “but that’s last year.”
Despite his frustration, he was second on the team in tackles last season with 77 and also registered two sacks in 14 games. However, he only started in three games.
Kendricks didn’t make any excuses. He just went back to what he knows — work.
He immersed himself inside the Bruins' new defensive playbook, and is trying to make sure he leaves no stone unturned.
“I want to be able to make the calls. I want to be able to know what’s going on on offense. I want to know everything there is to know on defense,“ he said.
Added Mora, “He’s a pretty self-motivated kid."
Kendricks has always had a sense of needing to prove himself. Growing up he always hung out with older people. He spent a lot of time “getting beat up on” by Mychal, who is 17-months older, and his friends.
“I always had to come back and show that I belong,” Kendricks said. “I felt like that’s really helped my competitive edge.”
As the younger brother, there’s always the challenge of trying to be acknowledged as Eric, instead of Mychal’s younger brother.
“I’m trying to create my own self," he said. "Everybody talks about ‘my brother this, my brother that.’ I’m my own person. We might have some similarities but for the most part, we’re different.
“(I need to) bring what I got to bring to the table and show what I (can) bring.”
This spring, he’s brought a lot. Of course, there’s always more work to do.
