Philadelphia Eagles’ DeSean Jackson seems unlikely to return vs. Vikings

The Philadelphia Eagles could use a guy like DeSean Jackson back in the mix. Will he get back out on the field for this week’s game against the Vikings?

Over the offseason, Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman garnered tons of praise for his moves. On paper, he made the Eagles a better team. However, there was always one critique that came with his transactions.

The Eagles are getting too old. As they acquired a handful of players who are more towards the back end of their careers, rather than their primes, it causes a bit of concern moving forward. Typically, when players get older, they may not regress per se — but they could deal with injuries more frequently.

Eagles’ veteran wide receiver DeSean Jackson falls under that category. In December, Jackson will turn 33-years-old. While the veteran speedster is just as fast in 2019 as he was with the Eagles back in 2013 — there’s still an area that he regressed in. That’s remaining healthy.

Since that final season with the Birds in 2013, DeSean Jackson has failed to get through an entire season uninjured. With constant soft-tissue concerns, Jackson hasn’t had the greatest track record when it comes to staying healthy. Philly doesn’t remember that side of Jackson because they didn’t see it much before. However, they are becoming quite familiar with it now.

The Eagles need Jackson back… When’s he coming?

During the second week of the season, DeSean Jackson played a very limited amount of snaps. Before the first quarter concluded, the veteran wideout felt like something was off. He was ruled out of the game with a groin injury, which was later diagnosed as an abdominal strain.

Multiple local sources such as John McMullen speculated that Jackson is dealing with a sports hernia. And ESPN Insider Adam Schefter said the same on Tuesday when discussing Jackson. While surgery was on the table for the veteran wideout, Jackson elected to opt-out.

As a veteran, who is a crucial piece to the Eagles offense, Jackson wanted to return to the field as soon as possible. The New York Jets matchup was his targeted return, but Week 5 came and went while Jackson has yet to even return to practice as a participant.

Here we are preparing for Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings, and DeSean Jackson is still slowly being eased back into the swing of things. As of Wednesday, Jackson will not practice. Instead, he will continue to rehab on the side until he is truly comfortable enough to play with the team.

Considering the circumstances, it has become unlikely that DeSean Jackson will play this weekend against the Vikings. The situation surely isn’t ideal, but the Eagles will have to work with what they got. They can win without Jackson, but the Birds will need to step up as Minnesota is undoubtedly not equal to Philly’s last opponent, the New York Jets.