Doug Pederson says Sidney Jones needs to ‘break through’ and be confident in his recovery to play well

Doug Pederson said Wednesday that the Eagles need for Sidney Jones to “break through that threshold” and not be thinking about pain or about getting hurt again, as Jones prepares to return from a hamstring injury.

“It’s something that we have to keep in mind," the coach said. "You don’t want the player, in this case Sidney, focused on the injury, because then it doesn’t allow him to play, or play fast. So, we have to make sure, and he has to make sure, that he’s 100%, before we put him back out there, so that he can be confident in his ability.”

Jones might be the team’s most talented cornerback, but since missing all but one game of his 2017 rookie season with an Achilles tear, he has been constantly hobbled by hamstring pulls. Jones injured a hamstring on the second series of the Green Bay game, and did not play against the Jets, though he was active in case of emergency.

Jones was not available to reporters Wednesday after he was listed as a full practice participant, for the first time since he suffered the injury.

Asked to explain what he meant, Pederson said that with any injury, “You get to the point where just through your rehab and conditioning, you have to push yourself. You have to bust through and say, ‘OK, I feel good. I still might be a little sore, but I feel good.’

“That's what I mean by that. That threshold where you kind of break through the glass and you're on the other side of it, and then once you get to that point, all the mental stuff goes away, and now you can just focus on ball again.”

Jones, 23, seemed to be making such a breakthrough during training camp and the preseason, which he went through healthy for the first time.

Before taking in last night’s Devils-Flyers game at the Wells Fargo Center, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said he finally feels he is back to normal. Cox suffered a foot injury in the playoff loss at New Orleans last season and missed the preseason.

He looked spry Sunday against the Jets, though Cox failed to join in his teammates’ 10-sack frenzy.

“I’m perfectly fine. If you turned the tape on right now, you’d see a totally different person [than the one that started the season]. I’m 100%,” Cox said. “I’m flying around, making a lot of plays that I normally made last year. I feel great.”

Not practicing Wednesday were running back Corey Clement (shoulder), corner Ronald Darby (hamstring), wideout DeSean Jackson (abdomen), defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan (foot), corner Avonte Maddox (concussion, neck), corner Orlando Scandrick (illness) and running back Darren Sproles (quadriceps).

Sproles won’t play in Minnesota. If Clement isn’t able to go, the Eagles might need to make a roster move to bring up Boston Scott from the practice squad, at least for return-game options.

Listed as limited were safety Rodney McLeod and left tackle Jason Peters, with knee injuries.