Jason Peters Hurt?

Posted: March 30th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 72 Comments »

I was very happy to read this morning that OT King Dunlap signed a 1-year deal to remain with the Eagles.  Dunlap has proven to be an effective backup.  The tackle class in the draft isn’t great so I’d rather have the Eagles take a player if they want him, but not feel forced to reach for someone.

Then Geoff Mosher went and ruined my morning with a series of tweets:

I’m hearing that one BIG reason that the Eagles re-signed King Dunlap today is that Jason Peters may have an injury. Working to confirm…

I’m hearing its an Achilles injury. But again, working to confirm from more sources, so hang with me.

League source tells me Eagles had no dialogue with King as of last week re: contract and suddenly “a lot of dialogue” this week.

Dunlap can make up to $2.2M this year, per source, which is “above market” for backup OT. Source said he heard Peters might have an injury.

Also told by a different source that Peters sustained the injury during a workout.

A pleasant Friday morning just got worrisome in a flash.  I haven’t heard a word about Peters being hurt, but Mosher has good sources.  I hope he’s dead wrong.  Unfortunately, his reports are likely on the money.

Now, an injury doesn’t mean Peters is seriously hurt or that the season will necessarily be affected.  We’re in pure speculation mode at this point.  Still, this is definite cause for concern.  And this makes the re-signing of Dunlap a critical move.

Keep  your fingers crossed that Peters either isn’t injured or it isn’t significant.  We have all of April, all of May, all of June, and all of July before Peters needs to be on the field.  That’s plenty of time for him to rest and rehab a minor injury.

72 Comments on “Jason Peters Hurt?”

  1. 1 Brian Winings said at 11:53 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    I will not be able to focus on anything until I find out whether or not his achilles is torn.

  2. 2 teltschikfakeout88 said at 11:53 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    Damn Tommy! What is with the wet blanket?

  3. 3 Septhinox said at 11:54 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    But can you have a “minor’ achilles injury? One that would make the Eagles freak out and sign Dunlap?

  4. 4 TommyLawlor said at 12:06 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    I don’t know about a minor Achilles injury? Haven’t guys had issues there without them being full tears?

  5. 5 GermanEagle said at 12:09 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Possibly, but not likely. Not 300+ pound guys putting all their weight on their achilles…

  6. 6 D3FB said at 12:22 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    If he has a bad ankle sprain or a calf injury it could very well be causing pain in his Achilles. I’ve had pain in the Achilles after both those types of injuries and it makes the Achilles very tender and difficult to move on. If this injury just happened in the last few days and he hasn’t gotten into the doc for an MRI, its most likely just very painful and worrisome for those in his camp.

  7. 7 kurtz said at 11:55 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    I think we have our target at 15 if this is true. Who should they target at OT? I know Matt Kalil but he will be long gone by 15.

  8. 8 M0rton said at 2:19 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Their target at #15 should be BPA, preferabluy on defense, regardless of this news.

    You don’t build talented rosters by reaching for needs in the draft.

  9. 9 D3Keith said at 6:21 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Agree with fake Morton.

  10. 10 GermanEagle said at 11:56 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    We have all of April, all of May, all of June, and all of July before Peters needs to be on the field. That’s plenty of time for him to rest and rehab a minor injury.

    …not if it’s a torn achilles though…! 🙁

  11. 11 TommyLawlor said at 12:05 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    I think we would have heard about a torn Achilles…but you are right. If that is the case, 12-15 months is needed.

  12. 12 GermanEagle said at 12:09 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    This thought makes me sick in my stomach….

  13. 13 Thorin McGee said at 12:22 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    You can strain them, or have a partial tear. I think those are in the area of 4-8 weeks to heal.

    I strained mine once in a football practice and that hurt all up and down the leg like someone was fileting my calf.

  14. 14 Davesbeard said at 11:57 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    Unless this happened yesterday or today it would seem strange for Andy to publicly say how excited he was about having the same starting O-line return. Plus how he is as comfortable with the O-line as he has been since Runyan/Thomas.

    “League source tells me Eagles had no dialogue with King as of last week re: contract and suddenly ‘a lot of dialogue’ this week”

    Maybe because we’ve hit the second wave of FA and priorities have changed?

    Really hope Peters is ok.

  15. 15 Thunder_lips said at 11:59 AM on March 30th, 2012:

    All I can say: http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season4/front9.mp3

  16. 16 TommyLawlor said at 12:05 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Great.

  17. 17 Brian Winings said at 12:16 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Can the Eagles please just let us know what is going on with this situation so I can get back to work?

  18. 18 Brian Winings said at 12:16 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Can the Eagles please just let us know what is going on with this situation so I can get back to work?

  19. 19 Kristopher Cebula said at 12:21 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    losing jason peters would be devastating to this team. he is by far our best lineman. i hope it’s not serious. can you get tendinitis in your achilles? that wouldn’t be quite as bad

  20. 20 Thorin McGee said at 12:24 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    If he tore it by getting caught on a fence he was jumping, so help me God, I will hire Trent Cole to hunt him down and kill him! Not another one of these freaky, devastating offseason injuries, please.

  21. 21 Brian Winings said at 12:42 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Season OVER
    Dan Graziano ‏ @espn_nfceast Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
    RT @geoffmosher: OK, have confirmation from team source: Peters sustained rupture Achillees. Surgery set for Tuesday. Team to announce soon

  22. 22 Alex Karklins said at 12:47 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Relax. The season is not OVER. Peters is awesome, but this isn’t a killer blow. At least there’s time to plan and work around this. Having Peters get hurt in the season opener would have been much worse. Now, the team can focus on getting help in free agency or the draft before OTAs even start.

    Everyone needs to chill out.

  23. 23 Thunder_lips said at 12:52 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    He’s right! Let’s stay logical, people! If we can get Dunlap to cannibalize Peters, he will absorb his strength and athleticism, and we’ll be fine! EVERYONE STOP PANICKING!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro

  24. 24 Alex Karklins said at 1:03 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    See? Everything’s gonna be just fine.

  25. 25 Baloophi said at 12:54 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Herremans to LT, Dunlap to RT?

  26. 26 iggles328 said at 12:57 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Wouldn’t it be better to keep Herr-dawg at RT to protect vick’s blindside?

  27. 27 Baloophi said at 1:05 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Except the better (quicker) pass rushers come from the left side. Isn’t this the alignment we used last year against the Redskins?

  28. 28 Baloophi said at 2:02 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Self-correction:

    Herremans played LT, Justice (not Dunlap) played RT in first game against Redskins.

  29. 29 NoDecaf said at 12:59 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    (Hand poised on panic button)

  30. 30 Matthew Butch said at 12:59 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    My thoughts: http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

  31. 31 BreakinAnklez said at 12:59 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Anyone else wish Justice was still around…?

  32. 32 ian_no_2 said at 1:01 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Demetrius Bell?

  33. 33 ian_no_2 said at 1:02 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    I also like Reiff a lot.. trading up to get him would be worth it. Jonathan Martin may be a good fit even at 15 but isn’t great value there.

  34. 34 nickross23 said at 1:20 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Wouldn’t make much sense to target a OT in round 1 when we just extended Todd and Peters hopefully can be ready in 13. need to target a swing tackle with starter potential in the case Peters isn’t the same playet after this. target a guy in rounds 3, & 4

  35. 35 Baloophi said at 1:26 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Yes. Look to a FA or late-pick trade to patch/compete with Dunlap this year, but if you draft a guy high you’re creating problems next season.

  36. 36 ian_no_2 said at 1:31 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    In the event Peters can start in ’13, you can move Herremans back to guard. One guy would be benched (like Watkins, or trading Mathis) but you’d be covered in an important area.

    Bobbie Massie and Mitchell Schwartz may fall to the third and fit your description.

    There’s also the option of taking DeCastro and moving Watkins back to T, or Mathis. Watkins would be a better bet because he didn’t click at guard like Mathis. Using the high second for Kevin Zeitler would be a very good value. Just noting an option.

  37. 37 nickross23 said at 1:04 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    This news really ruined the weekend for me, but just like a couple of people posted we have time on our side to fix the problem and have this new unit jell together. this has to alter the draft board a little bit for us. Tommy is there any prospects in rounds two or three that we could draft that fits Howard Mudds system, and will we now try harder to trade Asante to recoup a pick to target a OT?

  38. 38 Brian Winings said at 1:13 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    There’s no “chilling out” on this. This is a totally devastating injury that they will not be able to recover from this season. And they will have to pump a higher % of their remaining resources (FA/draft) into OL now which could have gone to other positions of need. And this also exposes Vick that much more.

    Remember how you felt when Stewart Bradley tore his ACL on Fight Night? Well this is 10 times worse than that.

  39. 39 M0rton said at 2:17 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    You don’t need to draft an OT just because one of yours got hurt. That’s a panic move. That’s not how quality teams build quality rosters.

    You sign a free agent to replace him for this season, and that free agent will obviously not be as great as Peters, but will at least plug the hole with a level of competency.

    Then you still draft BPA, preferably a DT or S or LB, in the first round.

  40. 40 Kammich said at 2:28 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Holy ish… I actually agree with Morton.

    I am devastated about the Peters injury. Fucking crushed. I was SO looking forward to actual O-Line continuity. With that said, we don’t flip our draft board upside down and turn it inside out, solely based off of this injury. Especially considering that after Kalil, every OT prospect has major holes in his game(Reiff is a pure RT, Martin is soft, Adams is major boom-or-bust).

    Maybe this places a bit more emphasis on a Day 3 pick at OT… but first or 2nd round? I don’t think that’s necessary. We have to let the dust settle a little bit, here.

  41. 41 Thorin McGee said at 2:48 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    I think Morton’s right on this one, too. It’s not necessarily a mistake to draft an OT if he’s the best guy on the board and a good value (Peters is at the top of his career right now, so you can start looking at the next guy) but we shouldn’t go grasping for one.

    Plan A should be to FA or a trade for an ideal “Mudder” — a guy like Mathis who’ll be better in this blocking system than other teams’.

  42. 42 Brian Winings said at 3:40 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    That’s not what I said. I said that additional resources that could have gone somewhere else would need to go towards OL now. If that is even one draft pick that they wouldn’t have made otherwise, or one FA that they wouldn’t have otherwise been interested in, then it still comes at the cost of not using those resources elsewhere. I’m not talking about reaching for an OT too early in the draft. I’m just talking about how this shifts OL up the organizational priority ladder in a way that wouldn’t have happened if not for this injury. This shifts all the other positions of need down slightly in terms of prioritization, no matter how you look at it, just because of the simple fact that there is a hole there now that wasn’t there before.

  43. 43 IowaEagle said at 1:15 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Some people think the Reiff might fall to the bottom of the first… He might be our new option in the 1st round. Or ESPN says this:

    They have two second-round picks in addition to the 15th overall pick in the first round of next month’s draft, so it’s possible they could package some picks and move up in the draft to get someone like Iowa’s Riley Reiff. The Minnesota Vikings have indicated a desire to trade out of the No. 3 spot in the draft, so if the Eagles wanted to really get crazy, they could trade all the way up there and pick USC’s Matt Kalil.

  44. 44 Baloophi said at 1:24 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Everything I’ve read about Reiff is that he’s likely to be right tackle only. If you’re moving Herremans over to LT and think that’s a long-term solution then maybe that works, but otherwise taking Reiff might be a waste of resources for a rookie who may not be plug-and-play and then doesn’t fit IF Peters returns next season.

  45. 45 Kammich said at 2:35 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Reiff is definitely a pure RT. On top of that, he might not even be as good of a prospect as Bryan Bulaga a few years ago, who went at the end of the 1st. If we traded up for him(or any OT not named ‘Kalil’), I would buy a samurai sword and go postal on an entire village of monks.

  46. 46 D3Keith said at 6:34 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Wearing the new New Balance shoes, of course.

    I worked through this initally on BGN since Tommy didn’t have a post up when I looked, so anything I’d write backs what you all are basically saying. Huge loss. Better it happened pre-draft and mid-FA so we can work our options better. Don’t completely alter the draft board and miss out on a career-long talent just to fill a hole for one year, but we do have a shot to do damage in 2012 if we can get a guy in there that can do a fraction of what Peters does.

  47. 47 Eric Weaver said at 3:07 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    He has near T-Rex arms. Not AQ Shipley-like T-Rex arms, but still…

  48. 48 M0rton said at 2:18 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    This would be the most idiotic thing the Eagles could possibly do.

    To trade UP for an offensive lineman? As a panic move? Instead of picking Best Player Available?

  49. 49 Eric Weaver said at 3:09 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    So putting aside your previous notion that the pick needs to be DT, LB or S; assuming the Eagles trade back because those guys are gone, do you still think it’s flawed in drafting an OT that’s BPA at the back end of the first?

  50. 50 Thorin McGee said at 1:40 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    God hates the Eagles. Everyone, help me fill in the list of ridiculous injuries that hosed the Eagles to prove it:

    Jerome Brown: died in a car crash
    Corey Simon: mystery ailment ended career
    J.R. Reed: Ripped nerve jumping a fence
    Jerome McDougal: shot during off season
    Shawn Andrews: Back surgery, depression, rap star
    Stewart Bradley: Knee capped on flight night
    Nate Allens: Great start to rookie year, tears patella tendon without contact
    Brandon Grahm: Knee last … I don’t even remember what he was doing

    And how many $^#&&#&@!!!!!!! sports hernias have we seen? Let’s compare that to other teams.

    Who am I missing?

  51. 51 D3Keith said at 6:41 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    McDougle was shot the night before camp too, wasn’t he?

    I’m sure most NFL teams have a list of crappy, unlucky injuries, but ours definitely suuuuucks. We overcame a bunch of them too so they don’t hold spaces in our memories, but Bryce Paup busting Randall’s knee in Week 1, Westbrook, Emmons, McNabb missing the Carolina NFCCG or getting hurt during it, and T.O. returning in time for the Super Bowl. Really all the McNabb injuries we overcame except for in ’05. They all could have been much worse.

  52. 52 Thunder_lips said at 1:43 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Howard Mudd should be recovered from his hip surgery by now, right? Does the league allow player/coaches?

  53. 53 Alex Karklins said at 1:51 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Howard Mudd makes Jon Runyan look like Pee Wee Herman.

  54. 54 Brett Smith said at 2:02 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    It is that bad.

    Surgery on ruptured Achilles.

    Lets hope King Dunlap can take care of this…. I have not seen a home run at LT within our reach in the Draft this year.

    Can we trade Asante and a bag of Cheesestakes for a LT?

  55. 55 M0rton said at 2:15 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Jason Peters is a good player and the Eagles will miss him, but the absolute *worst* thing that they can do after this incident is to target an OT in the 1st or 2nd round of the draft this year as a reactionary move.

    Whenever a team drafts for need, it misses on talent. You have to draft Best Player Available regardless of how many perceived needs you have.

    You can always fill the LT spot with a competent free agent who may not be nearly as good as Peters, but will provide an adequate level of performance in his place.

  56. 56 Brian Winings said at 3:41 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    That is still a FA that will require a certain amount of money that would have gone somewhere else otherwise.

  57. 57 D3Keith said at 6:43 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    I don’t think anyone’s arguing that you don’t have to compensate for Peters’s loss somehow. But it would be a mistake to further injure the team’s future by a panic-move response to the injury.

    If anything, the timing of it allows them to make a well thought-out move. Personally Bell + Dunlap would make me confident that we could again go into the draft not looking to fill a need, but to get the most value out of the entire process.

  58. 58 nopain23 said at 2:17 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Relax people.In Mudd I trust.this is not happening in the middle of the season.who was Evan Mathis before he came here?….exactly!…now he’s probably the best LG in football.Mudd will get the guy he thinks can play LT and coach him up.he has a full offseason to get this line together.Adversity builds character.Everyone is going to doubt the iggles now…not take them seriously.that’s exactly what this team is going to rally behind.we still draft LK40 if he’s there at 15 or cox.I’m sure there is a middle rounder Mudd can identify as a potential starter.Packers and Gmen had a bunch of injuries and won the big one…no reason why the iggles can’t do the same.

  59. 59 Kammich said at 2:23 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    My 1,000th disqus post, and its spoiled on a damn topic about Jason Peters’ achilles tendon exploding.

    Fuck.

    Ass.

    I’m gonna go punch something. Like a newborn kitten, or perhaps an underprivileged child.

  60. 60 Christopher Miller said at 2:28 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    You guys are looking at it all wrong…if we move Herrdawg to LT and Mathis to RT, we “saved” a ton of money for the year by giving our LT “RT money” and our RT “LG money”. I kid of course.

    I don’t get all the discussion on using round 1 pick to get a tackle…part of the reason I loved the Ryans trade was it filled a long term need so we can take BPA in the draft. We should not overreact now and blow a 1st rounder on what is hopefully a one year need. Hopefully, they will exhaust FA options, grab a guy in draft maybe in mid rounds, and may the best man win for the year.

  61. 61 NoDecaf said at 2:28 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Where the hell is Tommy!!!??? This is GROUP therapy dammit!

  62. 62 Kammich said at 2:33 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Goosfraba, goosfraba, goosfraba.

    SOMEONE GET ME A XANAX.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fscuv4PIjws

  63. 63 ACViking said at 2:42 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    RE: Who Are These Guys?

    William Beatty
    Chad Clifton
    Jermon Bushrod
    Max Straks
    Tarik Glenn
    Marvel Smith
    Matt Light
    Roman Oben

    These are the starting LTs on the Super Bowl Champions for the past 10 years.

    Only two of these LTs were Pro Bowlers during the SB season: Clifton, Glenn. (Bushrod and Light reached that status later).

    The Eagles can win without Peters. It hurts for sure. But they can win without him.

  64. 64 teltschikfakeout88 said at 2:59 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    making this comment in vacuum isn’t exactly correct. Those players were on teams that had very good defenses or an elite QB. The Eagles have neither, but then again having our not having our starting LT may not be our undoing if our D or QB play is….inconsistent next season anyways.

  65. 65 D3Keith said at 6:46 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Most encouraging thing I’ve read all day.

    It’s true, we need our QB and our D to play super-well regardless. This won’t help, but it’s proof that it can be done.

  66. 66 chris cornett said at 2:54 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    With the new rule that allows one player to return from IR, is there a chance Peters might be back at the end of the regular Season.

  67. 67 Eric Weaver said at 3:10 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    No reason to IR him. You just put him in PUP since he hasn’t practiced yet in the 2012 league year.

  68. 68 Brian Winings said at 3:47 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Oh please. He is not coming back this season. You are talking about a 350 pound man coming back to play in a zone blocking system less than 9 months after surgical correction? Not happening.

  69. 69 Eric Weaver said at 3:48 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    I don’t disagree, but it’s foolish for the Eagles to blindly put him on IR at this stage in the game. If he’s on PUP, he sits out the first 6 weeks and they evaluate him through week 9. If he’s still no good then, yeah, IR him.

  70. 70 Brian Winings said at 4:03 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Agreed but what’s the point of even getting into the logistics of it if there’s no chance he will be able to play in 9 months?

  71. 71 Peter Kozicky said at 3:30 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Don’t panic! That sort of thinking made us waste 4 million on Steve Smith, instead of signing Tulloch or making Desean happy.

    Peters’s long-term prognosis is key- if he’s expected to fully recover, there’s no need to invest a high pick in an OT. Even if we take one in the first round, he’ll take a year developing into a solid, dependable player, by which point Peters should be ready to return. Rookies pay their dividend after their 1st year.

    If our front office thinks Ryans can play, they should be confident in Peters’s ability to recover.

  72. 72 metaReign said at 7:28 PM on March 30th, 2012:

    Didn’t we pick up a couple of guards? Plus we have those in the practice squad, we need to evaluate what resources we have on the team. If we didn’t let go of JamJax, we’d have a good steady rotational group. As devastated it is to lose the heart of our O-Line, it will not change the draft line. Jags fans are seeing if Eagles will package to move up into their slot pick with a switch into our #15, remember we only have 9 picks and we need to use all of them on values. I, for one, can’t see us losing picks to move up, we may need to move down to get extra picks, but we can’t lose any of our picks. There are teams who have more the 10 picks, can use their own picks to move up, we don’t have the luxury to do it, but we need to be smart in controlling the situation (as if it’s the 3rd week into the season). Let the FO work their magics, they’ve been doing fine so far this off season, besides Mudd may have someone back in camp, in the works as we speak. So, we didn’t lose a leg, just a superficial cut that needs a band-aid, who knows, it may be a strong stick to hold the gap up. Or we use a couple of those for certain play calling, to keep the effectiveness in the rotation. The draft is where we need to find strength and depth to key positions, both on the defense and offense. The best we can do, is see what we have during the OTA’s and Training Camp.