Jones looks like a good pick, once healthy | Les Bowen

BEFORE THE second round of the NFL draft began Friday night, experts compiled lists of the most talented players remaining, in the wake of Thursday's first round.

Most of those lists didn't include Sidney Jones, though if you had tried to rank Jones among that group of prospects a few months ago, pretty much everyone would have placed him first.

Jones' draft experience changed March 11, on the University of Washington's pro day, when his left leg gave way during a coverage drill. Jones left the field on a cart, and he underwent Achilles' tendon repair surgery 11 days later.

Jones, 6-feet, 186, went from challenging Ohio State's Marshon Lattimore to be the first cornerback taken in a deep corner draft to living in limbo. But the uncertainty began to clear Friday evening, when the Eagles made Jones their second-round pick, 43rd overall.

Fans who focused on the potential value were excited. Fans hungry for 2017 results, or wary from other serious sports injury misadventures they've witnessed, were not. Jones is unlikely to play before midseason, a medical source said, and even that is a less-than-ironclad projection. Both Jones and Eagles de facto general manager Howie Roseman emphasized that there is no timetable.

"There will be no rushing back from this," Roseman said. "We're just going to make sure we get 100 percent of Sidney going forward, because this is an extremely talented guy at an important, hard-to-find position."

Later, the Eagles closed out their night by adding a healthy corner, Rasul Douglas, from West Virginia, with the 99th overall pick, in the third round. Douglas is 6-2, 209 and physical, though his 4.59 40 indicates less effectiveness downfield.

Roseman said that a few weeks ago, when the Eagles traded back in the third, from 74th to 99th, to obtain Ravens defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, Douglas was among a group of players they worried they wouldn't be able to draft, given the gap between 43rd (Jones) and 99th. "We feel like this guy fits our system. Tremendous ball skills, length," Roseman said of Douglas, who intercepted eight passes last season for the Mountaineers.

Eagles player personnel vice president Joe Douglas said Rasul Douglas' toughness and competitiveness stood out during the week of the Senior Bowl.

"I love the way this guy competes," Douglas said.

Roseman said Douglas has "tremendous instincts" and can recover well if a receiver eludes him.

Click here for more coverage of the 2017 NFL draft in Philadelphia. Our live blog will have updates for rounds four through seven.

Jones, meanwhile, can open the season on the physically unable to perform list and wouldn't count against the roster for six weeks. Then the Eagles would have to decide whether to activate him or put him on injured reserve. It's possible 2017 will be a wash. But at 20 years old, until May 21, Jones would seem to have an excellent chance at complete recovery, in the long run. And the Carson Wentz Eagles ultimately are about the long run.

"Undescribable," Jones told a conference call, when asked his feeling when he got the news. In trying to stem his draft slide, he'd done a USA Today interview just a few hours after the surgery, in which Jones vowed to play this season. But on Friday's call, he said that decision would be made by the Eagles.

"We've got to take it slow and get back on the field when they feel confident . . . of course I would like to play as soon as possible, but there's no rush," he said.

Jones said he "had a feeling, deep down" that he would end up an Eagle, after getting "a heartfelt letter," handwritten, from the team's senior director of college scouting, Anthony Patch. Minutes earlier, Roseman had told reporters that Patch was the Eagles' representative at Jones' pro day and called the office immediately when Jones went down.

"I got a few texts here and there (from other teams) but nothing like a handwritten letter," Jones said.

Jones said he thinks that at the end of his career, the Achilles' setback will be just a story he can tell.

Roseman and another team source said the Eagles might well have taken Jones 14th overall in Thursday's first round, instead of Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, had Jones not been injured. But Friday night, a source close to the situation said the Eagles also were considering Florida State running back Dalvin Cook at 43. Minnesota traded up from 48 to 41, using a fourth-round pick (128), to take Cook. It seems likely the Vikings were concerned about the Eagles drafting Cook, though Roseman contended he had no idea whether this was the case.

"We spent a lot of time with our doctors - (team orthopedist Peter) DeLuca, Chris Peduzzi, our head trainer, talking about this situation," Roseman said of Jones and his injury. "For us, it's about what we believe this kid brings to our football team going forward. We anticipate a full recovery for him. We don't know that timetable . . . We're just going to make sure he's healthy and he's ready to go (before he plays), because we believe he could be an impact player for us going forward for a long time, going forward, when he gets back on the field."

A medical source said it is hard to say for sure what the recovery rate for someone in Jones' position is, because Achilles' recovery often is affected by age, and the average age of players in studies is much older than 20. A study done by Dr. Robert Anderson - the surgeon who operated on Jones - said 85 percent of athletes returned to the same level of function. But again, the players tended to be older.

Roseman said the Eagles talked to other teams whose corners had come back from Achilles' tears, and to teams in other sports about their athletes. "Guys who are playing explosive positions, quick-twitch positions, about these sorts of injuries and the recovery timetable. That gave us a lot of confidence here," he said.

"There's no insurance for this, but we feel that with our team, our medical team . . . he's going to be able to be the same player he was before the injury."

Anderson, the surgeon, said in the USA Today story that Jones' injury was higher on the calf and thus easier to heal than some Achilles' tears. Anderson said the average recovery time is about six months. Jones underwent a newer procedure called a "mini-open" repair, which required only three stitches, and carries less risk of infection (such as suffered by former Phillies slugger Ryan Howard).

A healthy Jones would pretty clearly be the most talented corner drafted by the Eagles at least since Lito Sheppard in 2002.

Joe Douglas said: "The thing that jumps out most about Sidney is his length and his feet. He is a very smooth mover and can easily flip his hips. He can carry guys down the field. He's very instinctive and very route-aware. He has a really good gauge on what the receiver is going to do at the top of his routes, and I think he has ideal ball skills."

It's easy to see the appeal of Jones in the long run. It's harder to see how the Eagles are going to start their 2017 season, with Patrick Robinson and Jalen Mills as their starting corners right now, pushed by a group headed by Douglas.

Asked how drafting an elite talent that might not contribute much this season sat with him, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said: "I take it as we just got us a first-round, talented corner . . . This kid is dynamic. He's an extremely special kid on the field, and that's what we evaluated when making the selection."

Roseman reminded reporters that when he spoke in January about how the Eagles had handled their corner positions in recent years, he disparaged the use of "Band-Aids," short-term players with little upside.

"We can grow with this kid," Roseman said. "He's got great character and a great skill set."

So far, all three of the Birds' eight picks have been defensive players, in a draft that concludes with four rounds Saturday. That's at least a mild surprise, given their concern over putting weapons around Wentz.

When they pick again Saturday, 118th and 139th overall in the fourth round, one would think the Eagles might want to procure a running back. Judging from social media, many of their fans certaintly want that.

'This is a very good running back draft," Roseman said after the third round concluded. "We still have a lot of players we like at that position. Some good players have gone at that position, there's no doubt about it. We knew when we made (the Jernigan trade) that we were going to have to sit there and we were going to miss out on a lot of good players ... As we looked at our board coming into this draft, we knew that there would be running backs in every round that would be interesting."

bowenl@phillynews.com

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog