The Eagles defense has been without defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan all season, but he took his first step toward returning to the lineup on Monday.
Jernigan took part in practice with the team upon their return for the bye week. It’s his first on-field work since having back surgery in the spring.
By practicing, the window has opened for the Eagles to make a decision about activating Jernigan from the non-football injury list. He can take part in practice for the next 21 days and the Eagles have until the end of that time to add him to the 53-man roster. If they don’t, Jernigan will not be allowed to play at all this season.
Jernigan had 29 tackles and 2.5 sacks while making 15 regular season starts for the Eagles last year. He added two more tackles in the postseason.
