Here’s the Eagles plan for Alshon Jeffery with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside inactive in Week 10 vs. Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles may have revealed their plans at wide receiver when the inactive list was released Sunday. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was deemed a healthy scratch for the first time in his career as Alshon Jeffery will officially make his season debut after missing the first half of the season recovering from foot surgery last December. 

Philadelphia is relatively healthy at wide receiver for the first time this season, minus DeSean Jackson who is on injured reserve. Jeffery is listed on the first team on the Eagles depth chart opposite of Travis Fulgham, with Greg Ward lining up in the slot. The Eagles will be rotating snaps between Jeffery and Ward with Jalen Reagor when the team lines up in “11 personnel.” John Hightower will also be in the mix as a deep-ball receiver, having caught two passes of 50-plus yards this year. 

With Arcega-Whiteside inactive, how does that affect Jeffery’s playing time? If Jeffery is on a pitch count, the Eagles won’t be limiting his snaps too much since he doesn’t play special teams. Arcega-Whiteside played just five snaps in the Week 8 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys with Reagor making his return while Hightower played only 10. Hightower’s role shouldn’t change much with Jeffery back, but Jeffery should get much more than five snaps. Fulgham’s playing time may be cut a bit (he played 96% of the snaps in Week 8), but not significantly — similar with Ward (played 92% of the snaps against Dallas). 

Eagles fans should expect Jeffery to have a role in the offense, based on the clues the Eagles gave leaving Arcega-Whiteside as a healthy scratch. Arcega-Whiteside played just one snap on special teams all year, which should hint at how much they plan to use Jeffery against the Giants.