PRO FOOTBALL REPORT / WEEKDAY UPDATE : RAMS : Keith Jackson Comes Back to Eagles

In a surprise move, Keith Jackson, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Pro Bowl tight end, ended his two-month holdout Wednesday--in time to play against the Rams Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

Jackson, who caught 144 passes and was the NFC’s starting tight end in the Pro Bowl in his first two pro seasons, said he would not report to the team until the final two years of his contract were reworked. The contract remains the same, but he came in, anyway.

Can he be effective Sunday after missing all of training camp and having only a few days of practice time?

“Hell, we had three (long holdouts) come in against Green Bay (in Week 1) that way, you know,” Ram defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur said. “Kevin Greene came in and played, Doug Reed came in and played, and (Michael) Stewart came in and played, and played pretty effectively.

“I think those highly skilled great players like that can come in and be pretty darned effective.”

With kicker Mike Lansford’s right leg still aching, the Rams are leaning strongly toward signing an extra kicker and having him in uniform Sunday, in case Lansford further injures the leg during the game.

Lansford injured a muscle in the lower part of the leg on the opening kickoff last Sunday. He kicked off only one more time but continued placekicking without major difficulties.

“I think Mike will be able to kick field goals fine,” Coach John Robinson said Wednesday, discounting speculation that Lansford might be deactivated. “If we get down to the end of the game and need a field goal, I want Mike kicking it. I don’t want him standing next to me dressed in a Sears suit.”

But Robinson did say that he feared Lansford’s reinjuring the leg so much that he probably will sign one of three kickers--Teddy Garcia, formerly with the New England Patriots; John Carney, formerly of Notre Dame, and David Browndyke, formerly of LSU.

Injury report: The Rams have no serious injuries listed for Sunday’s game.

The Eagles have lost one important starter, defensive tackle Mike Pitts, who was placed on the injured reserve list this week. They have three other key players listed as questionable: starting left tackle Matt Darwin (knee injury), right defensive end Clyde Simmons (ankle injury) and strong safety Andre Waters (knee injury).