The Philadelphia Eagles head into this weekend's NFC East matchup with the Dallas Cowboys coming off a bye and mostly returned to full strength. Formerly ailing players like linebacker Kiko Alonso and - apparently - running back DeMarco Murray, are back to some semblance of health and set to embark on a second half of the season that will tell the football watching world a whole lot more about this Eagles team than the first half's 3-4 effort. Unfortunately, not every important piece has made the successful jump from the injury report to the practice field ahead of the important divisional game and at least one, left tackle Jason Peters, is not expected to play against the Cowboys. Geoff Mosher of Eagles Scouting Nest reported Thursday that right tackle Lane Johnson is expected to make his first start at left tackle in place of the injured Peters in primetime on Sunday night.
Peters, a likely future Hall of Famer, has been nicked up quite a bit this season. He left the Eagles' pre-bye loss to the Carolina Panthers early with what looked to be a very concerning non-contact injury - the type that tends to result in ACL tears. The prognosis later turned out to be only back spasms, which was much more positive than Philly fans were likely expecting, but according to Mosher's report, Peters is still likely to be unable to go against Dallas.
Johnson, the team's starting right tackle since they made him the fourth-overall selection in the 2013 NFL Draft, Chip Kelly's first with the franchise, has spent this week practicing at Peters' normal spot on the left. As part of the shuffle, Matt Tobin has also been inserted at right guard and Dennis Kelly has taken over at right tackle.
While Johnson has been a mainstay on the right since being drafted, seemingly, the plan all along has been for him to replace Peters once age finally caught up to the uber-athletic marvel. Peters turns 34 next season and has remained an elite player while healthy, helping the Eagles and Kelly to produce one of the league's best rushing attacks the past two seasons, though has seemingly become increasingly fragile over the last couple of years. Despite a bevy of small injuries, this weekend, should Mosher's report prove accurate, will be Peters' first missed start of the season.
With the Cowboys likely desperate to get back to their winning ways - they've dropped five straight after starting the season with two-straight victories, one over the Eagles in week two - and Johnson likely to spend the majority of his first night at left tackle lined up across from tempestuous-but-talented Dallas defensive lineman, Greg Hardy, it could be a difficult second go-round against the Cowboys for Philly, even with their NFC East foes starting Matt Cassell, and not Tony Romo, at quarterback.