MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — It’s Friday evening, 47 hours before Super Bowl LII will kick off. The Eagles are holding a welcome party for players’ families at their hotel at the Mall of America, but their No. 1 receiver has other plans. About five miles east on Interstate-494, a black SUV pulls up in front of an airport Courtyard Marriott. Out hops Alshon Jeffery. He walks entirely unnoticed past the check-in desk and the grab-and-go bistro, to the utilitarian hotel gym with two treadmills, two ellipticals and a stationary bike.
The Eagles’ last practice of the week finished four hours earlier, after which Jeffery stretched and jumped in the cold tub.