Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Eagles’ win over the Giants Monday night, will undergo surgery to repair his Lisfranc injury, Doug Pederson said Friday.
“He would want to get it done quickly so he can get on a rehab schedule,” Pederson said.
It’s impossible to tell when Jeffery might return, but this is generally a long rehab.
A University of Pennsylvania study of 28 NFL players who suffered Lisfranc injuries determined that the average player misses about 11 months. Some miss less, some miss more.
According to the study, 22 of 28 players who were identified with this injury had surgery, and those players generally took longer to return to action than those who didn’t, likely because their injuries were more serious in the first place.
The start of the 2020 season is about nine months away, so although the start of his season appears in jeopardy, Jeffery would appear to have a chance to play at some point next year.
Pederson said it was too early to speculate on Jeffery’s possible return: “I don’t have a rough sense yet on when that would be. It’s a long way away.”
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Meanwhile, receiver Nelson Agholor, who missed the Dolphins game with a knee injury, does not look likely to return Sunday.
Agholor said on Thursday his knee was at a “stalemate.”
“We’ll work through today and see where he’s at,” Pederson said. “Obviously, he hasn’t worked the last couple days. I’m not sure what statement means, but we’re still working through it.”
Pederson also said running back Jordan Howard is still not cleared for contact, so he’ll miss his fifth straight game since suffering a stinger against the Bears back on Nov. 3.
Pederson was asked if the Eagles, with just three regular-season games remaining, were close to shutting down Howard or Agholor and opening up roster spots.
“Yeah, we’re kind of getting down here to the end, obviously,” he said. “I understand the question. But I think my hope is that they return and return soon so that we can get them back. I lean more that way of getting a player back than trying to free up a spot and he gets healthy he can play.”
Pederson indicated that the Eagles don’t plan on activating another wide receiver from the practice squad.
Right now, they have just J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward and Robert Davis healthy and expected to play Sunday. Those three have played a combined 21 games in their career.
Other skill players in uniform Sunday will be tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, running backs Miles Sanders, Boston Scott and Jay Ajayi and hybrid tight end/receiver Josh Perkins.
“I look at it as nine bodies with tight end, runners and receivers, so we’ve got everything covered that way,” he said. “We’ve got a plan to the plan to the plan to the plan if we lose a guy in the course of the game. It’s where we are right now as a team, as an offense.”
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