Report: “There is a chance” that Alshon Jeffery will play in September [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Conflicting report alert with Derrick Gunn saying Alshon Jeffery won’t be back until October at the earliest. If that’s the case, the Eagles should be putting him on PUP. He would first be eligible to return in Week 7 on October 22 in that case.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been reluctant to offer a timetable on Alshon Jeffery’s recovery from a Lisfranc injury but we might finally have an idea of when he’ll be back.

“There is a chance” that Jeffery will be able to play in September, according to a report from NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark.

Now, the phrase “there is a chance” is hardly definitive. And “September” is fairly vague here as well. I would assume Clark means towards the end of the month since Jeffery is not yet even a full nine months removed from first suffering such a serious foot injury on December 9, 2019.

Still, Jeffery potentially being able to play in September means the Eagles might not start him out on the reserve/physically unable to perform list after all. The Eagles might opt to instead place him on injured reserve (though he’d need to be on the original 53-man roster), where he’ll be eligible to be activated after missing three games (as opposed to six on PUP). He wouldn’t be able to play until October 4 at the earliest in that scenario.

Or the Eagles could just keep him on the 53-man roster while knowing he’ll miss a couple games. This is the route they took when Jeffery had to miss a few games early during the 2018 season.

The feeling here is the Eagles should be in no rush to rush Jeffery back on the field. He’s coming off a significant injury and the worst season of his career as a full-time starter. In addition, the Eagles’ young wide receivers have shown promise in training camp. They have seven players at that position deserving to make the roster outside of Jeffery. Those players also figure to be around for the long-term while Jeffery is likely a goner after 2020. Activating Jeffery makes more sense if the Eagles are really banged up at the position and/or the young guys are struggling.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles handle Jeffery’s return. He’s been limited to standing on the sidelines in training camp practice but Doug Pederson seems encouraged by his progress behind the scenes.

Q. I know you’re not putting a timeline on WR Alshon Jeffery, but could you give us an update on what he’s able to do physically at this point, and is PUP in play for the season or is that not a consideration?

DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, obviously won’t get into those decisions right now, but he’s working extremely hard. He’s doing his on-land running. We’ve increased that. He’s looking really good. He’s feeling really good. And we’re hoping to get him out there soon with the team at some point here in the near future. I’ve been impressed with his workout, with his treatment, with his rehab, and we’ll see here in the next couple of weeks, but obviously as you mentioned, not going to put a timetable on him or make any decisions at this time.