Mathews, Brooks Return to Practice

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - There is often a yin and yang to life and a day after losing a pair of starters to injury, the Eagles got two back on Friday.

Running back Ryan Mathews and right guard Brandon Brooks, who had yet to practice this season, were back on the field Friday.

Mathews, the team's projected starting running back, had been on the non-football injury list with an ankle injury suffered while training on his own before camp began, while Brooks tweaked his hamstring in conditioning drills before the first practice last week.

Veteran Darren Sproles has been taking the majority of first-team reps at RB in place of Mathews, and free-agent pickup Stefen Wisniewski stepped in at RG in Brooks' absence.

Meanwhile, Jason Peters, who went down with a quad injury in practice Thursday, and safety Malcolm Jenkins, who injured his hamstring, were absent as expected.

Rookie running back Wendell Smallwood, also dealing with a quad,remains out of the lineup, and safety Rodney McLeod, perhaps the star of this camp from a defensive perspective, was excused from practice to attend a family funeral.

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen