Philadelphia Eagles: 3 winners and losers from training camp thus far
By David Esser
Loser: Alshon Jeffery, WR
A little bit of a wildcard mention here at the end of our list, seeing as Alshon Jeffery isn’t even participating in training camp at the moment. However, his collective competition at the WR position have all been outstanding thus far, and it could very well signal less snaps for Jeffery in the future.
In all honestly, I could have written an entire “winners” list on the Eagles young wide receiver room alone. Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, Quez Watkins, John Hightower, the previously mentioned Arcega-Whiteside, and even Deontay Burnett have all had seriously productive camps.
Obviously, that’s really good news for the Eagles, as they needed an influx of youth and speed into their offense. However, when it comes to Jeffery’s standing with the team, it could signal a much anticipated divorce happening sooner rather than later.
Not only has Jeffery been a huge distraction within the Eagles locker room the past two seasons, but his play has been deteriorating quite rapidly. He looked extremely slow and sluggish to start the 2019 season, almost never creating enough separation to be considered “open”. He then suffered a Lisfranc injury during the team’s Week 15 win over New York. He underwent foot surgery, and has spent the entirety of the last few months rehabbing.
Sure, a healthy Jeffery is definitely an upgrade to the Eagles WR group, but at what point does the coaching staff acknowledge that he likely won’t be 100% this season (or ever again for that matter)? If guys like Reagor, Ward, and JJAW are all solid through the first couple weeks of the season, why even bother putting Jeffery back out there?
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Jeffery is currently on the PUP (physically unable to participate) list, and can’t be activated until about halfway through the season. If Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles are cruising along with all their speedy new weapons, it’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where Jeffery is back on the field getting starter-level snaps like he’s been used to.