Malik Jackson To Miss Time With “Significant” Injury

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

There was just a feeling that something like this would happen after roster cutdowns.

The Eagles opted to keep six defensive ends on the roster because all three youngsters were talented, but the team had to cut a talented yound defensive tackle to do it.

Just two days later, Treyvon Hester was signed to the Redskins 53-man roster.

On a play late in the game against the Redskins, Malik Jackson was slow to get up and limped to the sideline.

Malik Jackson is slow to come up. Hopefully nothing serious.

— Eagledelphia (@EagledelphiaPA) September 8, 2019

During his Monday meeting with the media following the game, head coach Doug Pederson told memebers of the media that Malik Jackson, who the team signed early on this offseason to be the starting defensive tackle opposite Fletcher Cox, suffered a “significant” injury in the opener and will miss time.

That is in direct contradiction to what Jackson told reporters following the game when he called it “just a little injury” following being carted off the field and walking around in a boot postgame.

If this is Malik’s final game of the season, he will have been an underwhelming signing, having recorded just one tackle and bringing up memories of Mike Wallace in 2018.

The team will need to continue to do tests to see if Jackson requires surgery and/or if the team will be placing him on IR.

There is currently no timetable for his return.

The Eagles will now revert to Tim Jernigan starting at tackle once again with Hassan Ridgeway being the team’s only backup.

The team could choose to promote Bruce Hector to the active roster from the practice squad if they do not feel one of their ends could move inside. The team traded Hector late in camp, but Howie Roseman signed him back to the practice squad following roster cutdowns.

The team is also likely to monitor Hester as the Redskins reportedly only signed Hester in case of Caleb Brantley being unable to play. Hester was also an inactive for the team. With Brantley good to go, the team may move on from Hester in favor of buffing another position, freeing him to sign with the Eagles. This would be highly unlikely, however, considering Johnathan Allen was injured during the game against the Eagles.

Update: The NFL Network is reporting that Malik Jackson is expected to miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

Eagles DT Malik Jackson expected to miss season with Lisfranc injury. (via @RapSheet + @MikeGarafolo) pic.twitter.com/LwdZPsqPSe

— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2019

The Eagles will need Jernigan to be back to his 2017 form in order to cope with the loss.

No signing has been made official as Jackson has not been officially transferred to IR.