Jalen Carter is back on the practice field this week and fully expects to play against the Bills on Sunday in Buffalo after missing the last three games.

The procedure he had done on both shoulders a month ago seemingly did the trick.

“It feels better,” Carter said after being a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. “I can’t get too excited because I’m still working on it every day, still getting the strength back and stuff like that. I had a couple times where I strike the O-lineman and gave me some good knock-back to where I could really test out the shoulders and they felt pretty good.”

Carter, 24, had been trying to play through the season with injuries to both shoulders but clearly wasn’t himself. And things reached a low in the Eagles’ 24-15 loss to the Bears on Nov. 28.

So Carter and the Eagles decided to have the Pro Bowl defensive tackle undergo a procedure on both shoulders with the aim to have him return as a healthier version of himself for the stretch run and the playoffs.

Not only was Carter lacking strength and mobility in both of his shoulders, but he was also dealing with pain that has subsided upon his return.

“You could just see it on my film,” Carter said. “I think it was just the best decision. We talked about it. We talked about the little shot and what it did to help certain people on the team. I just feel like it was the right decisions.”

He’s been back for just a couple practices this week, but so far, so good.

Carter didn’t know the exact name of the procedure but said he got multiple shots in both shoulders. While he admitted he’ll likely need to revisit these shoulder injuries in the offseason, the shots were a way to get him back on the field and playing at a higher level in 2025.

And even though Carter also admitted he likely won’t be back to 100% the rest of this season, having Carter closer to himself will certainly help.

“But I’m always going to play 110 (percent),” Carter said. “Try to give it my all out there.”

The 2023 first-round pick was seemingly poised for an even bigger season in 2025 after already having two strong years to start his career. But it just hasn’t really gone to plan from Week 1. Carter missed the entire opener after getting tossed for spitting on Dak Prescott. Then he missed the first Giants game with a heel injury. And now he’s missed the last three games with these shoulder injuries that had already been slowing him down for pretty much the whole season.

While Carter is obviously one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL — and he was named to his second-consecutive Pro Bowl on Tuesday despite the missed time — it has been a weird season.

“It’s different,” Carter admitted. “It’s my second time ever getting hurt during the season. I had one in college, a little MCL that happened in a game and stuff like that. But it’s different, especially being in the league. 

“College, it was cool or whatever but in the league is different. You want to get out there for your family and your team and the organization, the fans and all. You want to get out there but you can’t rush the process. You don’t want to rush it and hurt it even more. It’s different but I’m taking it day by day.”

Without Carter the last three weeks, the Eagles’ defensive line has still played very well. The trio of Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo and Byron Young have held down the defensive tackle position and have gotten some help from Brandon Graham, who bumped inside to pick up three sacks.

Carter has been pleased with how well his teammates have played in his absence and is just looking forward to adding to their success.

But it’ll be a tough test on Sunday against the Bills and reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen. At least the Eagles will have Carter back on the field.

“[Allen] a dawg man,” Carter said I remember we played him two years ago and I missed a sack on him. So I gotta get that back. He’s tough, hard to bring down. Tall as heck, he can move. He’s just a dawg, man. We just have to go out there and play with our energy and play together.”