Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis activated from injured reserve, scheduled to play against Titans

Jordan Davis was activated off injured reserve Saturday and will be in the lineup for the Eagles’ matchup against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Davis missed the last month with a high-ankle sprain suffered against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 30. The first-round rookie returned to practice earlier this week and is expected to reassume his role at the center of the Eagles’ defensive line.

The Eagles placed safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson on injured reserve to clear a spot for Davis. Gardner-Johnson suffered a lacerated kidney against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday. He will miss a minimum of four games as a result, making him eligible to return against the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. Davis practiced all week and said he felt good after testing the limits of his recovered ankle on Thursday.

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”I’m pushing it,” Davis said. “I’m going to crank this thing to full tilt, as far as I can go. I want to [play,] I’d love to, but they have to make a decision that’s best for the team.”

The rotation at defensive tackle is more crowded than it was when Davis went down. Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh’s both signed with the Eagles last month after the defensive front struggled against the run without Davis as the anchor. Joseph in particular helped stem the tide over the last two games and figures to rotate in with Davis, especially as the rookie from Georgia eases back into game action.

Joseph said he wasn’t worried about ceding snaps to Davis; the 13-year veteran suggested it would be rewarding to mentor his fellow nose tackle.

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”I’m not worried about anybody taking my job,” Joseph said. “To be able to help someone become better for themselves and help their family, that’s the ultimate win. ... I feel like I could learn a lot from him, he’s young, he’s athletic, he’s smart.”

Davis, who is was listed at 336 pounds at the start of training camp, was noticeably slimmer during his first news conference in over a month. Conditioning was one of the concerns about the former Georgia star during the pre-draft process, but Davis said he’s spent the last month working out and focusing on eating the right things to drop weight.

”One thing goes down, you have to be very cautious about the other,” Davis said. “You don’t want to eat your way out, you want to come back and be the same person you were, or even better. That’s one thing that I strive for when I was out, I was able to come back and when I do come back, I’m still that same player or even better.”