Tyree Jackson out 8-10 weeks due to back injury

Well, there’s some bad news on the Tyree Jackson front. The Philadelphia Eagles tight end is expected to miss 8-10 weeks as he recovers from a fractured bone in his back. The injury will not require surgery, though, according to the team’s public relations department.

Jackson got hurt after making an impressive leaping grab during Tuesday’s joint training camp practice against the New England Patriots. He fell pretty hard directly on his back right in front of where I was standing. It looked painful and he spent some time on the ground before walking off with a trainer.

This development is unfortunate since Jackson was having a really good training camp. Especially relative to expectation as a former quarterback in his first offseason playing tight end. One would hope injury doesn’t hinder his long-term outlook. Back injuries are always concerning.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Eagles decide to do with Jackson. If they place him on injured reserve right now, he won’t be eligible to return at any point during the 2021 NFL season. If they want him to be active for games this year, they’ll have to carry him on their original 53-man roster before then moving him to IR. He’ll be eligible to be activated after Week 3 at that point, though the projected timeline has him returning has his return slated between Week 6 and Week 8. Note that Jackson is NOT eligible for PUP because he was already practicing in camp.

The guess here is the Eagles will carry Jackson on their original 53. But how will the rest of the tight end picture shake out? Zach Ertz is still here but there’s still an expectation that he might be traded. He’s avoided talking to media all summer, which is out of character for him. Dallas Goedert will make the team. It seems like Richard Rodgers will stick around as either TE2 or TE3, especially with Jackson on the shelf. Jason Croom and Jack Stoll are the other tight ends on the roster.

With less than two weeks until teams must trim their rosters down from 80 to 53 players, it won’t be long before we see what the Eagles have in store. In the meantime, it’s a bummer to know Jackson won’t be on the field to start the season.