With Malik Jackson’s injury looming, Timmy Jernigan will get his starting role back.
The Philadelphia Eagles almost made it out of week one without dealing with any significant injuries. The keyword here is ‘almost.’ Late in the game, Eagles’ newly acquired defensive tackle Malik Jackson suffered an injury, which had him struggling to get up.
While Jackson made it back to the sidelines on his own power, the pain made the walk back to the locker room too difficult to manage. Therefore, the medical staff had to take Jackson back in the tunnel on a cart. That signaled that Jackson’s afternoon was finished.
Typically, if a player gets carted off, that’s the worst-case scenario that could happen. In this case, the assumptions would be correct. While Jackson chalked up the injury after the game as nothing too serious, it was understandable that the veteran was just trying to keep a positive vibe.
As Jackson was set to get an MRI on Monday morning, Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson didn’t want to speculate on what the injury could be. So he just went with saying it’s a “foot injury.” On Monday afternoon, Pederson met with the media to discuss Sunday’s victory. To no surprise, he was asked about an update on Jackson.
While Pederson didn’t go too far into details or give an official diagnosis — it sure sounds like Jackson’s season is going to be on hold for a while. A “significant injury that will require time,” is all Pederson had to say as of right now. Further results will be determined later on in the week, but as of right now we know that Jackson will miss a large chunk of time.
Time for the next man up
The Eagles initially signed Malik Jackson to replace Timmy Jernigan. As Jernigan’s contract was looking a bit expensive for the Eagles’ cap situation, he became one of a few cap casualties in the offseason. Fortunately, the Eagles were able to get him back on a cheaper, one-year deal for 2019.
With that, the Eagles not only save space, but they also add a very talented and motivated veteran back into the mix. At first, Jernigan was a rotational backup on the D-Line. Now, he’s back to being a starter alongside his buddy, Fletcher Cox.
This where the defensive depth wins. By no means is losing Jackson a good thing — but at least the Eagles prepared for a moment like this in the offseason. Now, the Eagles are back to their 2017 starting defensive tackles, which seemed to work out just fine that year. It didn’t take long for Jernigan to get back to the starting lineup, as he will be back in action right away for week two.