Wide receiver DeSean Jackson was back in the Eagles lineup on Sunday, but he wound up getting pulled after playing just four snaps.
Head coach Doug Pederson said during a Monday radio interview that he expected Jackson back after the bye week, but gave a cloudier read on the wideout’s outlook during his press conference. He said Jackson would be going for “second and third opinions” on what the team’s been referring to as an abdominal injury since Jackson initially went down in Week Two.
Pederson was also asked why Jackson didn’t have surgery when he was originally hurt. He said it was “not for me to answer,” but those new opinions will lead to an even longer absence for Jackson.
According to multiple reports, Jackson will have core muscle surgery this week.
John Clark of NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com reports that Jackson had a small tear to his abdominal muscle, but the muscle is “now completely torn off the bone” as a result of Sunday’s aggravation. The timeline for a recovery is over a month, so this may be the end of the season for the veteran wideout.
Pederson was asked on Monday if he regretted playing Jackson.
“Sitting here today, you kind of go, “Alright, maybe you should have [sat him]. You’re second guessing now and we can’t -- we’re in a business where we have to play and we have to play with the guys who are in uniform. Again, he busted his tail to put himself in a position to help us yesterday, and again he just felt that discomfort, so we kept him out and that’s where we are.”
Now the Eagles are in a place where they won’t have Jackson for many weeks and perhaps the rest of the year.