Philadelphia Eagles: Tyree Jackson just can’t catch a break
2021 was supposed to be Tyree Jackson‘s year.
After dazzling at training camp early in the summer, many pegged the collegiate quarterback out of Buffalo as one of the Philadelphia Eagles’ breakout candidates, with some even comparing his abilities to big-name pass-catchers like Logan Thomas and Darren Waller.
With incredible size – 6-foot-7, 249 pounds – and a lifetime’s worth of experience throwing passes, maybe, just maybe he’d excel at catching them too, and the Eagles would find themselves with a fantastic two punch at tight end to pair up with Dallas Goedert for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be. While the talent is there, Tyree Jackson just hasn’t been able to stay healthy for the Philadelphia Eagles and thus will have to wait until some point in 2022 (more on that later) to try to get his blossoming career back on track.
Tyree Jackson’s misfortune continues for the Philadelphia Eagles.
After committing some nice preseason snaps to tape versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tyree Jackson broke a bone in his back during the Philadelphia Eagles’ joint practices with the New England Patriots that sent him to IR once the season began.
For Jackson, this was a massive bummer, as he was expected to miss at least eight weeks of action once the season began but still, after watching his performances over the summer, Howie Roseman and company still felt confident enough in his progression to trade away Zach Ertz, who would look pretty darn nice on the team right now.
While Jackson eventually did take the field for the Eagles, in Week 9 to be exact, he failed to secure a catch on two targets over the next eight weeks and entered Week 18 in desperate need of a breakout performance. If such a game happened, he’d surely be able to parlay it to a bigger role in the Wildcard round. And if not? Well, there was always next year.
Fortunately, Jackson was well on his way to a breakout performance, catching three balls on five targets for 22 yards and a touchdown… at least until he suffered a knee injury on a relatively routine leg plant that resulted in a sharp grimace of pain and visible frustration on the sideline.
*sigh* Tyree Jackson, you, my friend, have buzzard’s luck.
While there was some initial optimism that maybe, just maybe, Jackson had avoided a major injury that though was promptly dashed on Sunday, as his MRI indeed showed a torn ACL that would hold the 24-year-old out of action for the remainder of the season and much, if not all of the summer.
After looking like a legit candidate to become a starting-caliber performer back in June, Jackson will now surely have to watch the Eagles draft a tight end or sign a veteran player like Eric Ebron (more on him here) or even Zach Ertz to have a guaranteed second option just in case.
Buzzard’s luck, my friends; buzzard’s luck.
dark. Next. The Carson Wentz era is officially over (move on)
At 24, Tyree Jackson still has plenty of football left to play. Even if his 2021 season didn’t quite go as planned and his 2022 campaign is already off to a pretty horrible start, it’s clear the Philadelphia Eagles have a lot of faith in the former quarterback out of Buffalo and will give him every chance to succeed once fully healthy. In a sea of despair, there’s at least a little light at the end of the tunnel.