The Eagles were able to give out some some good news on Wednesday, with the team announcing that Tyree Jackson has been activated off IR, thus starting his three-week practice window.
This comes just days after the team traded away former franchise TE, Zach Ertz. There is no guarantee that Jackson will be able to fill the boots of Ertz, at least right away, but his high upside played a key role in the departure of the now-Arizona Cardinal according to Howie Roseman:
Then you talk about our young guys, and I think what changed a little for us was the surprise of camp, and it was just camp because we didn’t see it in the preseason games was Tyree [Jackson] and just seeing how he’s working to get back and the skills that he has in his body.
We want to make sure that we’re going into next year knowing as much as we could. If he’s going to look like he did during training camp, like, that’s going to be a player for us. But he’s got to show it in games. And this is an opportunity for him to come back and for us to see that. We don’t think that’s just a shot in the dark. We think this guy’s got some traits.
Jackson began his transition to tight end less than one year ago and it’s scary to think how far he’s come already. The former Bills QB stole the spotlight all summer long and was primed for a preseason breakout prior to picking up a back injury during a practice. Standing at 6’7, 249 lbs, Jackson turned heads from the get-go and will be looking to pick up where he left off.
We should expect to see him in an Eagles jersey within a month or so and while teething pains are to be expected, there should be a real sense of excitement to see whether the Eagles have another hidden gem on their hands.
Richard Rodgers was also signed to the practice squad today, joining Noah Togiai as potential depth options should Jackson’s return need to be pushed back. Jack Stoll will serve as the TE2 in the meantime, meaning that the Eagles have a plethora of options of the Jackson experiment fails. But for now, there should be nothing but optimism.
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