Well, this was kind of expected. Veteran offensive lineman, Jason Peters, is set to miss the remainder of the NFL season after trying to battle through a toe injury that will now require surgery, according to Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson.
Peters has started at right guard in each of the team’s last two contests and played terribly. While this could be attributed to the injury, the fact is that if it’s that debilitating, he shouldn’t be out there to begin with.
Prior to that, Peters had missed a significant chunk of time with another injury. Splitting his time between left tackle and right guard, the declining future Hall of Famer has allowed a total of 8 sacks this season.
This is a blow to the team in some regard, but it’s not like Jason Peters had been an outstanding player this season. The decision to bench Jordan Mailata for the returning tackle made absolutely no sense whatsoever and it didn’t take long until he was benched in favor of the former seventh-round pick prompting his move back inside in the first place, where he has struggled massively since.
Matt Pryor may well be his replacement so long as the team continues to ride rookie Jack Driscoll at right tackle. Pryor has endured a bumpy season of his own, surrendering 4 sacks and as many penalties in 550 snaps.
Nate Herbig could also be a candidate to step up, The UDFA had a really encouraging start to the season. He didn’t miss a snap in the opening 8 weeks and allowed just 2 sacks in that time. He was another player whose benching made very little sense and it could be logical to give him a run towards the end of the year.
This doesn’t bode well for rookie QB Jalen Hurts, who will be making his first NFL start this weekend against a very fast Saints pass-rush that ranks 4th in sacks per game and has averaged 4 in their last 3 contests. They will be smelling blood in the water here. The question is, how fast can Hurts swim.
Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire
