There aren’t many NFL players tougher than Philadelphia Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson.
During last year’s playoff run, Dickerson was an ironman for the Eagles. He injured his left knee during the NFC Championship Game while playing center in place of teammate Cam Jurgens; clearly operating at less than 100 percent, he returned two weeks later and gutted out every meaningful snap possible against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Dickerson has battled more injuries to open the 2025 regular season. During a training camp practice, he suffered a meniscus issue — this time to his right knee — that required minor surgery, leaving his availability for the first month of the season up in the air.
True to form, Dickerson entered Week 1 with no injury designation despite dealing with back and knee issues. He’s since played 235 snaps through the Eagles’ first four games of the season, per Pro Football Focus.
Dickerson’s dedication to his craft and teammates is admirable. His performance has left much to be desired, though, and head coach Nick Sirianni is tempting fate by letting his star lineman struggle through multiple injuries this early in the season.
Philadelphia Eagles LG Landon Dickerson is struggling in pass protection to start the 2025 season
Jalen Hurts was sacked twice during Sunday’s 31-25 win over the Buccaneers, and both of them came through Dickerson's lane. Eagles writer Anthony DiBona believes it’s time to start worrying about Philly’s Pro Bowl left guard, due to his health.
“Landon Dickerson has become a liability this season, as he continues to try and play through multiple injuries. Dickerson has already allowed 13 total pressures and three sacks through Philadelphia’s first four games, according to Pro Football Focus. To put Dickerson’s struggles in perspective, he has never allowed more than five sacks in a single season.”
Despite a 4-0 start and incredible efficiency in the red zone — the Eagles have now converted touchdowns on all 11 drives that have breached the opponent’s 20-yard line — Sirianni’s offense has failed to string together four quarters of good football. New play caller Kevin Patullo has become the easy scapegoat, but the team’s poor play up front has been impossible to ignore through the first month of the season. Hurts is averaging a career-low 6.0 yards per pass attempt; the running game, with Saquon Barkley, has plummeted to 3.5 yards per attempt, which ranks 29th in the NFL.
There’s blame to go around, and the offensive line deserves its fair share of the pie. Dickerson is obviously struggling. Superstar right tackle Lane Johnson has been on and off the field for two weeks due to a nagging back injury. Right guard Tyler Steen hurt his knee during Sunday's game, missed a handful of snaps, and returned with an apparent limp.
Sirianni will have some difficult decisions during practice this week. The Eagles can’t afford to lose critical protectors like Dickerson and Johnson for an extended period of time. They also can’t really afford to rest them this week, not with another formidable defensive front in the Denver Broncos waiting on deck.
Philly’s top guys will likely stay on the field as long as they can still walk. The standard is the standard, to steal a quote from Mike Tomlin.
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But is that the best approach for the team this early in the season? That figures to be a major talking point in Philadelphia going forward.