It’s a shocking change but maybe not the one everyone wants to see. The Eagles are moving Jason Peters to right guard and putting Jordan Mailata over at left tackle, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. Mailata had been impressive during a five-game stretch filling in for Peters earlier this season. Now he’s getting the job back on a full-time basis.
Peters, who endured the worst game of his 17-year career last week, entered training camp as the presumptive starter at right guard following a season-ending injury to Brandon Brooks. Then, the team moved “The Bodyguard” to left tackle after Andre Dillard was lost for the year. Not without controversy, of course. Peters reportedly demanded a pay raise from Philadelphia and they rewarded the future Hall of Famer with a $2 million signing bonus and $4 million in guaranteed money.
His performance has been up and down this year to say the least. Pro Football Focus has him graded at 67.8 overall and pins six sacks allowed on him in 2020, a mark ranked second-worst in the league. Peters was responsible for giving up three sacks, three quarterback hits, seven pressures for a 41.0 grade last week versus Cleveland. Olivier Vernon was named NFL Defensive Player of the Week thanks largely to bull-rushing his way by Peters for almost four quarters.
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Peters Declared ‘Left Tackle Moving Forward’
On Monday, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson declared that Peters was the Eagles’ starting left tackle moving forward. There had been no consideration of replacing him with Mailata following his horrendous performance against the Browns. Well, things must have changed drastically over the past three days as that move has reportedly been made.
With the OL switch, this is the OL the Eagles will have on MNF if Lane Johnson is able to play through a shoulder injury:
LT: Jordan Mailata
LG: Isaac Seumalo
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Jason Peters
RT: Lane Johnson
It would be their 10th different OL in 11 games.
“Yeah, he’s our left tackle moving forward,” Pederson told reporters on Nov. 23. “Look, there were a lot of things, several things that sort of stood out after watching the film from a number of positions, not just one specific spot or aspect of the game, offensively.”
Pederson’s comments were echoed by All-Pro center Jason Kelce later in the week, too.
“He’s played a lot of football for us, incredible teammate, incredible player,” Kelce told reporters. “I think there’s a lot of things going on right now, just like Carson [Wentz] takes a lot of criticism and blame that isn’t solely on his shoulders, I think the same thing can be said for Jason Peters.”
Isaac Seumalo Underwent Knee Surgery
Isaac Seumalo missed eight games due to a knee injury sustained in Week 2. He returned to his starting spot at left guard last week and felt fine, albeit still not at 100% health. Seumalo revealed he underwent surgery and thanked his mom and little brother for flying out to Philadelphia to help him recover.
Isaac Seumalo said he had knee surgery, credits his mom and younger brother for helping him post surgery. #Eagles
“I’m grateful more than I can imagine for my mom and my little brother,” Seumalo told reporters on Friday. “I’m out there so regardless of how it feels or this or that, the standard and my performance needs to be as high as possible because I’m out there, I’m playing, and I’m going to do everything I can on the field.”
He has taken the left guard position and made it his own. In fact, Kelce called him one of the premier guards in the NFL. However, the 27-year-old said that if the Eagles needed him to play center that he would.
Seumalo said: “If the call came, if they … because of injuries or something … needed me to play center, I could play center.”
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Eagles Making Surprising Change in Starting Lineup: Report