PHILADELPHIA — The Chicago Bears game was a breaking point for Jalen Carter.

His shoulders had bothered him since training camp, and on the day the Eagles’ defense was gashed for 281 rushing yards in a Black Friday blackout, Carter’s deficiencies showed on the film, he said. The Eagles even took him off the field on early downs.

There’s a lot of hand-to-hand combat that happens at the line of scrimmage, and Carter couldn’t strike and use his hands the way he usually does. He didn’t have the strength in part because the shoulder pain and mobility limitations made it so that he couldn’t lift weights. Even pushups were painful.

“The shoulders were kind of restricting it but I tried to fight through it,” Carter said.

Until he couldn’t. Carter called his shoulder ailments “a little serious” back in October and alluded to a possibility of taking “a little break” to get right. Two months later, and three days after that 24-15 loss, his words came true.

Carter said Wednesday that he got multiple shots in both shoulders. He feels a lot better now, but the procedures may have been temporary fixes. Carter said he probably won’t feel 100% during the upcoming playoff run and will likely have to revisit the injuries in the offseason.

“I can’t get too excited because I’m still working on it every day, still getting the strength back,” he said.

Carter is in line to make his return Sunday against the Buffalo Bills after missing the previous three games. Carter said he wanted to play every snap, but the Eagles will likely work him back slowly. While conditioning was an issue earlier in the season, Carter said he was able to run and lift and feels like his conditioning won’t slow him down.

Carter practiced Tuesday in some capacity, though the Eagles weren’t required to give an injury report. Carter was listed as a full participant Wednesday. He said he can feel the difference in practice during practice periods against offensive linemen.

The Eagles’ defensive front has played well in Carter’s absence. Carter loved watching Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young and even Brandon Graham — who moved to the interior with Carter out — help the Eagles go 2-1 over the last three games. But he wanted to be out there.

“You want to get out there but you can’t rush the process and hurt it even more,” he said.

The Eagles barely missed Carter against Las Vegas and Washington, but the team waiting for him Sunday in western New York is a different challenge with one of the better quarterback-running back combinations in the NFL.

Carter and Bills running back James Cook overlapped at Georgia. And Josh Allen is a “dog,” Carter said.

“I remember when we played them two years ago and I missed a sack on him,” he said. “We got to get that back.”

Injury report

Lane Johnson (foot) remained out during practice Wednesday, as did Nakobe Dean (hamstring).

Landon Dickerson (illness) also missed Wednesday’s workout, as did A.J. Brown, who had a dental procedure.

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