Philadelphia Eagles: Jeff Stoutland discusses Jason Peters position switch

The Philadelphia Eagles are really moving “The Bodyguard” to right guard huh?

It isn’t often that a team loses a man that’s quite possibly the best at his position and replaces him with a future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, but that’s exactly the situation the Philadelphia Eagles are in following Brandon Brooks‘ injury. Every team has a win-loss total. Every head coach and quarterback have a win-loss record attached to their name. “Father Time” has a win-loss record as well, and throughout history, the latter remains undefeated.

Brooks’ recent Achilles tear at the midpoint of June isn’t some freak occurrence. It means that he’s now torn both of his Achilles tendons. It’s also the third time he’s seen his season end with an injury since January 13th of 2019 (there was also a separated shoulder that he suffered on December 29th. Nobody gets stronger and faster as they get older, and for whatever reason, “Father Time” just won’t leave Mr. Brooks alone.

Philly awarded him with a four-year, $54.2 million contract extension on November 11th. That keeps him in the fold through the 2024 season, but there is a concern. Sure, he rehabs with a ferocity few men are capable of, but now that he’s older, will the injuries continue to mount and come more frequently? It’s a fair question to ask, isn’t it?

“The Bodyguard” returns to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Following the Brooks injury, Philly made the decision to do something that many thought they should have done months ago. They re-signed longtime legend and future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Jason Peters. There’s a twist though.

The nine-time Pro Bowler (seven of those came in an Eagles jersey) will be making the switch to right guard to fill the void left by Brooks. Now, when many of us were discussing a possible return by “The Bodyguard”, that was being done because we thought Peters was still, at this point, a better fit at the left tackle than Andre Dillard was, now entering his second season with the team. There were just too many questions about Dillard’s ability and his mental toughness.

Here’s the thing though, after spending a first-round selection on him in 2019’s NFL Draft, the “Birds” do need to get him on the field. Moving Peters to guard is the right move, but the question is this.

After conditioning his body to play left tackle for the past 16 seasons, how difficult of a transition will that be? Recently, Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland spoke with a few members of the media and had a lot to say on the subject. Here’s a quote.

"Number one, I believe everybody in the O-line meeting room, (and) probably a lot of other players around here but most importantly the O-line, the players in the O-line, I think they look at Jason Peters like ‘this guy can do anything’. (It’s) just like I said a minute ago about our daily, how we go about our day. I think that this is going to be great for Jason Peters. It’s just another challenge for him. I think that, you know, he’s had to play the toughest position (on) the O-line and probably in the whole offense for a lot of years… That’s a hard job. I think this can really help us, number one… I think he brings a lot of value to the organization, to our offense… To me, for those reasons, I think this is absolutely the best move."

To make long stories short, Year 17 is going to be a big one for Mr. Peters, and it should go a long way in solidifying what’s already been one of the greatest careers in Eagles history. Fear not Eagles fans. We might still be looking at the best offensive line in all of pro football.