By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
Last week, I speculated that the re-signing of Bruce Hector to and release of Winston Craig from the practice squad meant the Eagles expect a new tackle soon and that it might come in the form of Tim Jernigan.
On Monday, that suspicion was announced to be true as the birds released a statement saying that he was eligible to return to the team.
#Eagles DT Tim Jernigan has been cleared to return to practice.
Full Details: https://t.co/wfzKjdjy80#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3tPAjL9jcV
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 5, 2018
Now that Jernigan is participating in team activities, the Eagles will need to activate him within three weeks. If Jernigan returns, it is likely that a depth player (like the recently promoted Chandon Sullivan) is waived and added to the practice squad. De’Vante Bausby was signed to the unit as the final player today and would likely be the first to go.
Jernigan has been sorely missed on the defensive line as his replacement was supposed to be Haloti Ngata, who missed three games himself. Jernigan will be a huge addition to the offensive line. Last season, he racked up 29 tackles (nine for loss), two and a half sacks and eight quarterback hits. He also registered two tackles and two quarterback hits in the playoffs.
His return is huge for a defensive tackle unit sporting only three players and featuring a dominant Fletcher Cox. Jernigan will be able to pull even more pressure off of Cox and allow him to be even more dominant in his quest to earn the Defensive Player of the Year award.
