Eagles receiver Alshon Jeffery gets medical clearance, is a full participant in practice; status vs. Titans undetermined

Alshon Jeffery received medical clearance to play in games and is on the verge of becoming the latest high-profile player on the Eagles to return from injury, fulfilling coach Doug Pederson's confidence last week that "the band is slowly coming together."

Pederson stopped short of saying Jeffery will play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans and insisted that Jeffery's game status will be determined later in the week. But there's reason to believe Jeffery will be back on the field for the first time since the Super Bowl, after which he underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff. Jeffery was a full participant in practice on Wednesday for the first time this season.

"Alshon's doing well," Pederson said. "He's cleared. We're excited to get him in the mix and see where he's at."

Jeffery returned to practice on a limited basis two weeks ago and was questionable for last week's game. He was not cleared for contact until this week. He repeated that the Eagles are a "long ways away" from the Titans game, so he doesn't know yet about his status. He said it "felt good" being back with his teammates "flying around" and "in the huddle." Pederson said the Eagles must evaluate Jeffery in practice to see how Jeffery moves. Of course, there's no tackling in practice.

"I've still got to be able to take a hit," Jeffery said. "That's another hurdle."

Pederson said the Eagles will watch how Jeffery "get bumped around" even though there are no live contact drills. And then the training staff will gauge how his shoulder responds each day.

"It's a situation where you want to make sure the player's right, 100 percent right, before we put him out on the field," Jeffery said.

Jeffery could play at less than the "100 percent" threshold. He was not 100 percent last season, when he played the preseason, regular season, and postseason with a torn rotator cuff. Jeffery injured the shoulder in training camp and delayed surgery until after the season.

Jeffery could return to the field and still take time before he's at full strength. He missed the entire offseason program, training camp, and preseason this year. As was said about Carson Wentz last week, game speed is different than practice speed. When asked if the Eagles would need to ease Jeffery into lineup, Pederson would only say "you'll have to wait 'till Sunday."

Jeffery, who is the Eagles' No. 1 wide receiver, finished with 57 catches for 789 yards and nine touchdowns last season. That's far from prolific production, although his influence on the offense cannot be measured by his statistics alone. Jeffery's value to the offense was apparent during the last three games when he was out of the lineup. Nelson Agholor is better when Jeffery is on the field commanding attention. Same with tight end Zach Ertz, who said Jeffery is "an established No. 1 receiver and teams view him like that." Pederson said the other targets see more single coverage with Jeffery in the lineup and the Eagles can run more route combinations.

"It definitely give us, offensively, a shot in the arm, and he can become a big impact, quite honestly, with the offense…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."

Wentz shared a similar sentiment, calling Jeffery's potential return a "spark to the offense" and that Jeffery can help the Eagles both down the field and underneath. Like Pederson and Jeffery, Wentz would not speak as if it's a certainty that Jeffery will play Sunday.

Jeffery said his only care is if the Eagles win and that the Eagles will go with whichever target has the hot hand on a given day. Ertz explained that the Eagles believe they have three top targets with Jeffery, Ertz, and Agholor, and that the three players can move around the formation and don't chase statistics.

"If Alshon's getting a catch, [the team is] as happy for him as if I've getting a catch," Ertz said. "And vice versa. That's the strength of our team. It's not one guy taking over a game…but having a strength in numbers."

Although Jeffery has missed time, he's at least healthier than he was one year ago. If he had surgery during the season, he'd be back by now. The way he did it worked out well for all parties. And if he plays Sunday, three missed games in 2018 will prove to be a small price paid.

"It was worth it," Jeffery said. "We won the Super Bowl. If I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing."