Alshon Jeffery returns to practice with the Eagles
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alshon Jeffery has no regrets about playing an entire season with a torn rotator cuff.
He has a Super Bowl ring to show for it.
Jeffery was cleared for contact after offseason shoulder surgery and practiced Wednesday with the Philadelphia Eagles, inching closer to returning to the lineup for the first time since he made a leaping 34-yard touchdown catch against the New England Patriots in February.
"It was worth it," Jeffery said. "If I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing."
Jeffery signed a one-year deal in free agency in March 2017 and got injured in training camp but played through it. He was rewarded with a four-year extension worth $52 million, with $27 million guaranteed, during the season.
The Eagles (2-1) have missed their top receiver. He had nine TD catches last season and three more in the playoffs. Coach Doug Pederson isn't certain yet whether Jeffery will play at Tennessee (2-1) on Sunday.
"It definitely gives us, offensively, a shot in the arm, and he can become a big impact, quite honestly, with the offense and the formations and moving our guys around, moving him inside, moving him outside," Pederson said. "There's going to be a progression with him, and I don't think it will be instantaneous, but at the same time the more comfortable he gets, the better he becomes. He becomes a target defensively as you saw in some of the games last year where he was doubled a lot, especially in the red zone, and we know that is going to happen. He makes a huge difference for us."
Carson Wentz just returned after tearing two knee ligaments in Week 14. His final pass last season was a TD to Jeffery, who doesn't put himself in the quarterback's category.
"Carson is the captain of the ship. I don't see similarities because I play receiver," he said.
Wentz only had six of his 25 completions to wide receivers last week in a 20-16 win over Indianapolis. He's excited to get Jeffery back.
"Anytime Alshon is out there, he brings a spark to the offense," Wentz said. "He brings somebody that has the ability to make a play down the field and underneath and do some things really well."
NOTES: RBs Jay Ajayi (back) and Darren Sproles (hamstring), DE Michael Bennett (illness) and S Rodney McLeod (knee) didn't practice. Ajayi missed one game, Sproles sat out the last two.
