Alshon Jeffery Update: Eagles activate wide receiver from PUP list

UPDATE: The Eagles activated Alshon Jeffery from the PUP list on Friday, as expected. The NFL’s official transaction page shows that Jeffery passed his physical. Original story below.

The Philadelphia Eagles will activate wide receiver Alshon Jeffery from the active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on Friday, according to head coach Doug Pederson.

This means Jeffery will begin the season on the Eagles’ 53-man roster. He will NOT be placed on the reserve/PUP list, which would have automatically made him ineligible to practice/play for the first six weeks of the season.

This news is not unexpected. Jeffery’s projected return date was always closer to Week 1 than it was to Week 7.

With that said, it sounds like the target date for Jeffery if the Eagles’ Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, September 23. Earlier this week, NFL insider Chris Mortensen reported Jeffery is expected to miss Philadelphia’s games against the Atlanta Falcons (Week 1) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 2).

Jeffery being removed from the active/PUP list also means he’ll now be eligible to participate in practice to some extent. He hasn’t been able to do that all this offseason after having surgery on a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder.

It’s good to know Jeffery will be back sooner than later. In the meantime, the Eagles will need to figure out how they’ll operate without him. It’s possible Mack Hollins will start in his place. The only thing there is that Hollins has also been dealing with an injury. Other options include Shelton Gibson getting more playing time and/or the Eagles going really heavy on two tight end sets with Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert.