Eagles training camp star Tyree Jackson suffered a fracture in his back on Tuesday.
While the QB-turned-TE won’t need surgery, he is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.
The injury happened late in Tuesday’s joint practice against the Patriots. Jackson leaped in the air at the back of the end zone to haul in a pass but landed squarely on his back and was clearly in pain. While Jackson didn’t even take a trip to the medical tent, he was hurting.
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This is an unfortunate turn of events for the 23-year-old who had been having an excellent summer. Jackson (6-7, 249 pounds) had been pushing very hard for a roster spot.
This leaves the Eagles with three options for when they finalize their 53-man roster:
1. Put Jackson on IR, which means he would miss the entire 2021 season.
2. Carry him on the 53-man roster and then put him on IR so he could return this season.
NFL
3. Cut him with an injury designation, which would subject him to waivers, and then bring him back. This would risk losing him and seems unlikely.
Even if Jackson comes back in 8 weeks, he still wouldn’t be ready to play again until mid-October.
The Eagles still have Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz and Richard Rodgers on their roster, so the decision about what to do with Jackson wasn't easy even before this injury.
Jackson, the former University at Buffalo quarterback, has turned heads this summer, especially because he didn’t even begin learning the tight end position until November.
“You see the sticks on his routes,” quarterback Nick Mullens said. “That’s the biggest thing. If you know when a guy’s going to stick his foot in the ground, then you can anticipate the throw. Tyree’s done a great job of that and he’s shown a lot of that very well in camp so far.”
It seems like just about every day in practice, Jackson has made some big catches. Even on Tuesday, before he got injured, he had a touchdown catch in the end zone followed by an emphatic spike.
Not only had Jackson been having a good camp but he had a solid showing in the first preseason game too, catching two passes for 32 yards, including an impressive 19-yarder.
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