Kennedy, 20, had been chasing teammate Ben Speight in a match-practice session at Aegis Park, when he went to change direction and felt a severe pain in the right knee he had reconstructed last March.
Kennedy told kangaroos.com.au on Wednesday he had initially feared the worst.
"I just kind of pushed up under the mark and Ben [Speight] went to go inside, so I tried to 'cut' off my right leg and it gave way a little bit. I was in a fair bit of pain," Kennedy said.
"The pain was in a similar spot to when I did my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), so it crossed my mind, 'Oh, no, not another year out [of the game]'."
Kennedy's fears were compounded by the fact he had just resumed with North's main training group. Last Thursday's session was just his third since rupturing his ACL in a practice match against Greater Western Sydney last March.
Fortunately, North's medical staff were soon able to put Kennedy's mind at rest.
After he walked from the Aegis Park ground - a good sign, he said, given he hadn't been able to put any weight on his right leg after his injury against the Giants - North director of medical services and player pathways Steve Saunders examined Kennedy's knee and was confident there was no structural damage.
A scan later that day supported Saunders' diagnosis, but North understandably took a cautious approach, booking Kennedy in for an assessment by the surgeon who conducted his knee reconstruction.
On Wednesday, Kennedy got the news he was looking for - "It looks like I just tweaked the knee a bit, nothing too serious," he said.
Better still, Saunders says he expects Kennedy will rejoin pre-season training next week.
Kennedy, himself, is confident he's on track to do so. He says his right knee has been getting progressively better since Thursday, so much so he has been for some "light" runs.
With last Thursday's scare behind him, Kennedy can now look ahead to the upcoming season and, hopefully, better luck with injury.
After being taken by the Kangaroos with the No. 41 pick in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, Kennedy has yet to make his AFL debut, with his 2010 season also severely disrupted, by a foot stress fracture.
Having overcome that, he impressed in North's 2011 pre-season games. Ironically, his best performance came in the game against the Giants, when he kicked two goals and provided a mobile target in attack before his last-quarter injury.
Like nearly all media-trained modern footballers, Kennedy, 192cm and quick, says he will happily play where North coach Brad Scott tells him. But when pushed he says he's best suited to the forward line.
For now, though, Kennedy is just happy he can look forward to mounting a case for senior selection rather than the drudgery of another year in rehabilitation.
"Missing a whole season is pretty boring and it's hard to watch your teammates run around for a whole year," he said.
"The thought of having to go through it again wouldn't have been too flash. But now I just can't wait to get stuck into the season."
