Alshon Jeffery was playing through cracked ribs in the Eagles vs. Saints game

The Philadelphia Eagles’ hopes of beating the New Orleans Saints on Sunday evening ended when Nick Foles’ pass to Alshon Jeffery went right through his hands and into the hands of cornerback Marshon Lattimore.

Needless to say, it was an incredibly unfortunate play for Jeffery and the Eagles.

The veteran wide receiver clearly took his mistake really hard. He understandably feels like he let his team and his city down.

It would be misguided to solely place this loss on Jeffery’s shoulders, though. He’s not the only one responsible for the Eagles’ offense failing to score after their first two drives.

Jeffery is a big reason why the Eagles have had as much success as they’ve enjoyed over the past two seasons in the first place. He’s now up to 23 receptions for 364 yards and three touchdowns in five postseason appearances with Philly. The Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl last year without him playing through a torn rotator cuff that he dealt with for the entire 2017 season.

Jeffery’s toughness was on display once again in the Eagles’ loss to the Saints. It turns out that he was playing through cracked ribs. This checks out since Jeffery was limited in practice all week due to his injury.

It’s apparent that Jeffery means a lot to this Eagles team. His coaches and teammates were so supportive of him following his big mistake.

Drops are not a usual occurrence for Jeffery, who arguably has some of the strongest hands in the league. This play actually marked the first drop of his playoffs career.

There’s every reason to believe Jeffery will put this mistake behind him and continue to make a lot of big catches for the Eagles in 2019 and beyond.