Doug Pederson Sounded as if Matt Pryor will Start at Left Tackle in Opener

PHILADELPHIA – Eagles coach Doug Pederson certainly was convincing prior to Tuesday’s practice in making a case that Matt Pryor, and not Jason Peters, will the starting left tackle when the season opens in Washington on Sept. 13.

The reason?

Because Peters is doing such an exemplary job at right guard and the veteran left tackle is now getting comfortable at right guard.

“The fact that Jason has really embraced a new role for him, he's done it well,” said Pederson. “He's playing at a high level in what we've asked him to do there and he's comfortable.”

Pederson wants his line to start getting in sync, so he doesn’t want too many moving parts. He was even asked about the possibility of Lane Johnson moving from the right to the left side. Pederson predictably shot down the option.

“As you guys know, it's hard to disrupt too many positions with that offensive line,” he said. “We've got a few more days here before we really get into regular season week to find out who that left tackle will be. But got some options over there.”

Pryor appears to be option number one to replace injured Andre Dillard after Pederson said he would get most of the reps with the first team during Tuesday’s practice. Pryor struggled during Sunday’s live scrimmage at Lincoln Financial Field, but so did the other candidate believed in play to replace Andre Dillard, Jordan Mailata.

Pederson was asked about Pryor’s scrimmage struggles, which came primarily against defensive end Josh Sweat.

“I don't make too much of it,” said Pederson. “Pryor has been working right guard and right tackle. I believe this might have been the first time he's really had extensive left tackle work without any preparation or practice time.

“It's a great example of why you just don't move guys around at the spur of the moment. Matt Pryor is a guy that, once he gets all the work during the week, is a solid guard or tackle. He's proven that in the past for us. He'll settle in over there at the left side, and we’ll be fine.”

The Eagles would be preparing for their annual meeting against the New York Jets in the final preseason game of summer. The game would have been Thursday, except the all the exhibition games were wiped out to the coronavirus.

So, it will be just a straight dive into the regular-season opener.

The Eagles are choosing to take a preseason approach to this week’s practice.

Carson Wentz isn’t practicing due to a lower-body injury, which is believed to be a soft tissue injury, though head coach Doug Pederson said it was more of a rest period this week for his quarterback.

“What Carson is working through right now is nothing major,” said Pederson prior to Tuesday’s afternoon practice. “It's minor. It's day-to-day. This is actually a good time for this week, to rest. As you know, if we played a game on Thursday, a pre-season game, he wouldn't play this week anyway. All the backups would go.

“This is really a good time for him to really rest, for the majority of our starters, to kind of rest and prepare themselves for next week. I have no issues of where Carson is, where he's headed. He'll be ready to go.”

Pederson expects all his players who haven’t practiced much these past two weeks or so to be ready to go for the home opener.

That means running back Miles Sanders, defensive end Derek Barnett, and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave should be returning to practice next week, for the final tune-up for Washington.

One exception at the moment is receiver Jalen Reagor, who the team listed as week to week on Tuesday with an upper-body injury. The rookie is expected to be sidelined for at least the first two games if not at least four.

Veteran WR Alshon Jeffery will likely not be ready the opener, either.

“I'm not going to put a timetable on Alshon,” said Pederson. “I want to make sure he's obviously 100 percent or 105 percent if that's such a thing before we put him out there.

“He's working extremely hard. He wants to be out there. He wants to practice and play in games. But at the same time, we know it's a long season. We've got some guys that we need to make sure that are healthy for the entire season, not just the beginning of the year.”

With a 53-man roster needing to be in place by Saturday afternoon, evaluations will intensify as the week goes. So, too, will the search for a left tackle.

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