Doug Pederson on Sidney Jones: Sometimes You Have to Push Yourself

Doug Pederson said Tuesday cornerback Sidney Jones needs to be able to "break through that threshold" in dealing with his frequent hamstring injuries, meaning the oft-injured second-round pick needs to figure out how to play through occasional soreness as long as he isn't at risk of hurting the team or hurting himself further.

It's been a frustrating two years for Jones, who has started and finished just nine games since opening day last year and has suffered four separate hamstring injuries that have cost him playing time.

Jones, who missed virtually all his rookie year with an Achilles injury from before the 2017 draft, has never played more than five consecutive games without getting hurt.

Most recently, Jones left the Packers game after just 10 snaps and didn't play against the Jets. 

With four other cornerbacks - Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Avonte Maddox and Cre'Von LeBlanc - also out, the Eagles had to use Craig James, who had played just two career defensive snaps, and Orlando Scandrick, who was out of the league the first month of the season, at corner along with Rasul Douglas.

Pederson sure seems to be saying Jones needs to be tougher.

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"I think from a player standpoint, sometimes too you sort of have to push yourself, you've got to break through that threshold," Pederson said. "You have to push yourself through that and feel that level of comfort as an athlete."

Jones played the first five games last year before leaving the Giants game with an injury. He missed three games, returned for the Saints blowout, left that game early, missed another week, then played two more games before shutting down for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

He made it through three games this year before getting hurt in Green Bay. The Eagles have played 23 games over the last two years, and Jones has finished nine of them.

Pederson explained what he meant when he said "break through that threshold:"

"I think sometimes with an injury, I don't care what type of injury, you get to that point through your rehab and your conditioning where you've got to push yourself. You've got to bust through and say, 'OK, I feel good and that still might be a little sore but you feel good.' That's kind of 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."

Is there anything the Eagles can do to keep Jones from getting hurt constantly?

"We monitor these guys every day just to stay on top of this stuff," Pederson said. "Everybody's built a little bit differently. Body gets tugged and pulled in different ways, but we do everything we can through our medical staff to keep them healthy and try to prevent it as best as we can."

Pederson was asked if he's concerned about Jones' confidence, and it's a valid question since Jones hasn't been able to stay on the field, and when he has his play has been inconsistent.

He acknowledged Jones' confidence is an issue.

"Yeah, it's something that we've got to keep in mind because 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," he said. "So we have to make sure - and he has to make sure - that he's 100 percent before we put him back out there so he can be confident in his ability."

How it is possible to wait until your 100 percent before you play while still "breaking through that threshold" isn't clear.

What is clear is that the Eagles are growing frustrated with Jones, the 43rd pick in the 2017 draft. 

Jones is expected to play Sunday in Minneapolis. The question is how long will he last?

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