The Philadelphia Eagles are elevating wide receiver Julio Jones from the practice squad for their Sunday Night Football matchup with the Miami Dolphins, the team announced Saturday.
The Eagles had signed Jones on Tuesday, with the expectation being that the veteran wide receiver would start out on the practice squad, with a promotion to an active roster spot once he got his feet wet, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported at the time.
This week, head coach Nick Sirianni stated that Jones has been performing well in practice. However, he and his team are being cautious about when to promote the wide receiver. They recognize that it may be more beneficial to gradually integrate him given the new offense he is learning and considering he has not played yet this year.
Sirianni said on Friday, as per the team transcript, “Julio, it’s natural to want to include him given his phenomenal skills and significant contributions to the league. However, we must ensure his safety isn’t compromised.” He added, “We need to strategically balance helping us win the game, and his role in contributing to that victory, while also being mindful of his participation frequency due to an increased risk of injury from overexertion.”
Evidently, Sirianni liked what he saw from Jones enough to take the plunge, and the 34-year-old is now set to be available as a target for Jalen Hurts on Sunday night, officially marking the start of his 13th season in the league.
With Quez Watkins currently on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, there are available touches for Jones coming in, especially if he can perform anything like how he looked earlier in his career.
Jones spent most of his initial twelve NFL seasons with the Falcons, earning seven Pro Bowl selections in ten years in Atlanta and twice leading the league in receiving yards. Currently, Jones ranks 16th in career receiving yards, accumulating 13,629 yards throughout his professional tenure. He only needs an additional 148 yards to climb higher on the list.
Recent seasons have been marred by injuries for Jones, limiting his appearances to just 29 games over the past three years. He was traded to the Titans in 2021 and in 2022, he was on the receiving end of Tom Brady’s passes during the quarterback’s final season with Tampa Bay. Jones remained a free agent until this week in 2023, but has now signed with the Eagles and is set to make his Philadelphia debut in prime time. This gives him an opportunity to pursue his first Lombardi Trophy.
The kickoff for the Dolphins and Eagles is at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday night.
