A preseason game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots barely got underway Saturday night before it turned frightening, as Eagles running back Ja’Quinden Jackson was carted off the field in an ambulance after a violent collision on the opening kickoff at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Jackson, 24, was attempting to tackle Patriots returner Lan Larison when he dove low at Larison’s legs and appeared to take a direct knee to the head, according to NBC Sports. The impact left Jackson displaying what broadcast commentators identified as a fencing response — his arms briefly extending or flexing into the air, a reflex tied to disturbance of the brainstem and considered a primary visual indicator of a concussion or traumatic brain injury, per Healthline. As MassLive reported, Jackson was ultimately taken from the field in an ambulance and transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
The scene on the field grew emotional almost immediately. Nearly the entire Eagles roster left the sideline to surround Jackson in support while medical staff worked to stabilize him, a moment The Philadelphia Inquirer described as the game being delayed for several minutes as both teams’ medical personnel attended to him. Television cameras caught Jackson moving his hands while he was being placed onto the stretcher, a detail noted by broadcast commentators ahead of the Eagles’ official statement, according to On3’s account of the broadcast.
Eagles Say Jackson Retained Movement in All Extremities
Philadelphia’s organization later reported that Jackson had strength and movement in all extremities, offering some reassurance even as the full extent of his injury remained unclear. The preserved movement is considered a preliminary encouraging sign, though it does not rule out a serious head or neck injury, particularly given the fencing response witnessed on the field.
Jackson had only been with the Eagles for a short stretch when the injury occurred. Philadelphia signed him on August 10, 2026, as backfield depth after training camp injuries to fellow running backs Dameon Pierce and Elijah Mitchell, according to CBS Sports. That put him just twelve days into his tenure with the team, competing for a roster spot behind Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley, when he took the field on special teams for the opening kickoff.
An Unusual Path From Quarterback to NFL Roster Bubble
Jackson’s route to that moment was unconventional. He arrived in college football as a four-star high school quarterback out of Duncanville, Texas, and played the position at both Texas and Utah before converting to running back at Utah in 2022, according to Wikipedia and 247Sports player records. He transferred to Arkansas for the 2024 season, where he rushed for 790 yards and 15 touchdowns in his final collegiate campaign.
Despite that production, Jackson went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft. He spent his entire rookie season on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad before being waived in May 2026, per Steelers Depot, eventually landing with Philadelphia as he tried to carve out a roster spot.
Kickoff Rules Built to Cut Concussions, But Risk Remains
The injury comes despite league-wide changes aimed specifically at reducing this kind of collision. The NFL permanently adopted the Dynamic Kickoff format for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, aligning coverage and return teams within 5 to 10 yards of each other before the ball is kicked in an effort to reduce high-speed hits, according to NFL Football Operations documentation. League safety data showed a 43% drop in kickoff concussion rates in 2024 after the initial alignment restrictions took hold, even as touchback adjustments pushed return rates above 70%, DAZN News reported in 2025. Jackson’s injury is a reminder that, even under the revised rules, return coverage remains one of the more dangerous phases of an NFL game.
The collision also unfolded on a field with its own recent complications. Gillette Stadium’s operations crew had completed an emergency full replacement of its artificial turf just days before the preseason slate began, after a newly installed surface failed joint NFL-NFLPA laboratory safety standards following the removal of temporary natural grass used for 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, Hoodline previously reported. That turnaround, completed on a four-day window in early August, had already drawn scrutiny before Saturday’s game even kicked off.
As of Saturday night, Jackson’s condition and the results of his neurological evaluation had not been publicly detailed beyond the Eagles’ statement on his extremity movement. His availability going forward remains uncertain while medical staff continue to assess the injury he sustained covering the opening kickoff in Foxborough.
