Eagles activate Tyree Jackson’s practice window

The Philadelphia Eagles activated Tyree Jackson’s 21-day practice window on Wednesday, according to an official team announcement.

Jackson is on the reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP) list after suffering a torn ACL during the Birds’ Week 18 game against the Dallas Cowboys last season. He missed all of training camp and was required to miss at least the first four games of the 2022 campaign by being on PUP.

By starting Jackson’s practice window, the Eagles intend to activate him to their 53-player roster within the next three weeks. He’s eligible to play as soon as this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But one would think the team will want to ease him back in. When the Eagles activated Andre Dillard’s practice window (returning from injured reserve) a few weeks ago, he missed the first game he was eligible to play in before returning the next week. At the time, Nick Sirianni had talked about how injury recovery is just one factor in return to play and that conditioning must also be considered. The Eagles would probably like Jackson to work himself back into shape in part by taking practice reps. Especially after such a long layoff.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Eagles have planned for Jackson in terms of his role. Dallas Goedert is obviously Philly’s top tight end. Jack Stoll is the second man up as much more of a blocker than a pass catcher. Grant Calcaterra has only seen limited playing time and isn’t known for his blocking as much as his receiving ability.

The guess here is that the Eagles will carry four tight ends on the roster with Calcaterra being relegated to a healthy scratch. Jackson will take over the TE3 role.

Jackson showed intriguing promise in training camp last year. So much so that Howie Roseman cited his impressive progress transitioning from quarterback to tight end during his post-Zach Ertz trade press conference. Jackson did not get a whole lot of opportunity to impress during the 2021 regular season as TE3, though.

One can only wonder how the injury and time off impacted Jackson, if at all. In any case, his return is a potential boost to the Eagles’ tight end depth.

It’s worth noting that Eagles backup offensive lineman Brett Toth is still on the PUP list. The Eagles can keep him on there until they reach a point where they need more offensive line depth.