Howard Eskin thinks there’s a “good chance” Tim Jernigan could be back next week

The Philadelphia Eagles made a big roster addition by acquiring Golden Tate via trade on Tuesday. And now it sounds like another significant boost could be on the way.

Eagles sideline reporter Howard Eskin is saying there’s a “good chance” starting defensive tackle Tim Jernigan “could be back in next week.” Eskin is calling it a “possibility.”

Now, it’s hard not to take this information with a grain of salt. Earlier this month, Eskin said he thought Darren Sproles would be back for the Eagles’ Week 7 game against the Panthers. Sproles missed not only that game but the Eagles’ Week 8 game as well. And it’s not like he’s at least returned to practice.

But if Eskin’s correct this time, that’s a big deal. Getting Jernigan back would be big for an Eagles defensive tackle position that currently features only Haloti Ngata and Treyvon Hester behind Fletcher Cox. Jernigan’s ability to generate interior pressure is obviously value.

It’s worth noting that Jernigan, who is currently on the reserve/non-football injury list, has been eligible to return to practice since leading up to Week 7. Once Jernigan begins practicing, the Eagles have a 21-day window to either activate him to the main roster at any point or shut him down for the rest of the season.

For what it’s worth, Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman DID say on Tuesday that the team is optimistic about getting some injured players back.

Generally, in terms of injuries, I am not going to discuss any specific injuries, but certainly we are in constant communication with our medical staff about when guys are coming back, and we want to add to this roster. We are optimistic that we are going to add, internally, to this roster. For us when we were looking at this moment in time, it is not only this move that we are making, but some guys that we anticipate coming back for the second half of the year that we really think are going to add to our team. They are almost like making additions without giving up the draft pick. [...] There are guys that we have two return-to-play spots that we can use. We are going to get guys healthier here in the second half and we are excited about that.

In addition to Jernigan potentially coming back, the Eagles can activate two players off their injured reserve list. On Monday, Doug Pederson specifically mentioned Richard Rodgers, Mack Hollins, and Mike Wallace (in that order) as potential returnees. Hollins and Wallace seem like the most logical candidates for those spots. Hollins is eligible to be activated now that he’s missed eight weeks. The same goes for Rodgers. Wallace isn’t able to be activated until after Week 10, although he is eligible to begin practicing as early as this week if the Eagles designate him as a return player.

The Eagles have off this week since it’s their bye, but perhaps we’ll see some updates on the status of these players leading up to Philadelphia’s Week 10 game against the Dallas Cowboys. It’d be great to see the 4-4 Eagles get some reinforcements in order for the reigning Super Bowl champions to make a run in the second half of the 2018 season.