Eagles defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan is currently on the non-football injury list after undergoing back surgery in May, and Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson was non-committal on Jernigan’s status when speaking with reporters earlier today.
“He’s doing well, he’s making progress,” Pederson said, via Mike Kaye of NJ.com. “He’s a guy we’ll just continue to monitor. I don’t want to put a cap on him, don’t want to limit him anyway and any other expectation other than him getting better and healthy at this time.”
While that’s a seemingly innocuous quote, Pederson failed to commit to Jernigan returning this season, according to Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Per the NFL’s NFI rules, Jernigan must sit out for the Eagles’ first six games of the season. After that, Philadelphia will get a three-week window to decide whether Jernigan can return to practice, and another three-week window to activate him once he practices.
Jernigan was originally given a four-to-six month recovery timeline after having surgery, and he’s now entering the fifth month since that estimate. The operation affected Jernigan’s bottom line, as he agreed to a revised contract after undergoing the procedure. Jernigan had three years left on the four-year, $48MM extension he signed in 2017, but those seasons are now team option years with no guaranteed money.
With Jernigan sidelined, the Eagles have deployed Haloti Ngata (45% playtime) and Destiny Vaeao (32%) at defensive tackle alongside Fletcher Cox. The unit has held up well, ranking first in Football Outsiders‘ adjusted line yards and 13th in adjusted sack rate.
I think Jernigan is malingering,probably not a good deal in hindsight.
He had back surgery, and is coming off a stellar season. Why would he lie about symptoms?