Will Dallas Goedert play Sunday for the Eagles? Thursday’s practice will be a key.

For the first time in a month, Dallas Goedert is set to line up against someone his own size.

The Eagles tight end returned to practice Wednesday after spending the last four weeks on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Goedert said he’s trending in the right direction to play in the Eagles’ road game against the Chicago Bears this Sunday, but would need to see how his shoulder fares once he’s tasked with blocking football players instead of the trainers he worked against during his rehab process.

“I have to go out and practice and see what it feels like at full speed,” Goedert said. “Blocking bigger people than just the trainers. If I was playing them, I could play for sure, but some of those guys are a little bit bigger, a little more forceful.”

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Since the Eagles held a walk-through Wednesday, Goedert’s real test will likely come during Thursday’s practice session. Still, Goedert’s return feels likely; the Eagles activated the 21-day window for him to practice on the first day he was able to and the 27-year-old said he jokingly told general manager Howie Roseman he didn’t need to go on IR two weeks ago.

“I miss being out there,” he said on Nov. 30. “Just counting down the days until they can take me off IR. I told Howie Roseman, ‘Man, you shouldn’t have put me on!’”

Goedert was having the best year of his career before he was tackled by his face mask against the Washington Commanders last month, landed on the shoulder, and was sidelined with what he described as a small fracture. He has 43 catches for 544 yards and three touchdowns in nine games this season.

“It’ll be awesome to have him back,” offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said Tuesday. “Obviously, he’s an elite tight end, and to have him back in the fold whenever he comes back will be awesome.”

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Goedert said the fracture wasn’t particularly debilitating — “I was still able to play video games, that’s all that really matters,” he joked — but contact would be the final test for his healed shoulder.

The Eagles had trouble accounting for Goedert’s absence against the Indianapolis Colts the week after the Washington game, but the offense has hit its stride in the last three weeks. Tight ends Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra each saw an uptick in playing time with Goedert out and Tyree Jackson returned to the fold just as Goedert went on IR.

Quez Watkins was the biggest beneficiary of Goedert’s absence. After having spotty involvement in the offense in the first 10 games of the season, Watkins was targeted 18 times in the last four games and had 14 catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns over that stretch.

“We were able to get some other guys going with Dallas being out,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “Quez is the one guy that really has stepped up big-time with Dallas being down as far as his production goes.”

Early in the season, the Eagles were reliant not only on Goedert’s production but also the flexibility his versatility afforded them with personnel packages. His ability as a blocker enabled the team to run out of three-receiver sets and his receiving prowess made the Eagles offense a threat to pass even when lining up with multiple tight ends.

Although Watkins, along with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, made up for most of Goedert’s receiving numbers, the team also got quality play from Stoll and Calcaterra.

Sirianni said the contributions from Watkins, Stoll, and Calcaterra illustrate how deep the offense will be once Goedert is back in the fold.

“The thing that you learn is just that you have a lot of capable guys,” Sirianni said. “It reconfirms to you that you have a lot of capable guys on this offense.”

Stoll led the tight ends with six catches for 68 yards over the last four games while Calcaterra had four catches for 41 yards.

“Jack Stoll, he is a tough-nosed dude, dirty-work type player,” Sirianni said Monday. “And now you’re seeing him having to run some routes where he gets to run and show his ability to run and make plays with the ball, and he’s done that.”

Sirianni added, “With Grant, you just see he is a scrappy guy and you’re seeing that more and more. ... We’re seeing some of the special receiver qualities of why we drafted Grant, but then we’re also seeing how he’s developing in the run game, which is really important, obviously, for tight ends to have, that we keep them balanced, and you can’t get any tells when a guy is on the field.”