Even while carrying an official designation of “limited,” Cowboys offensive lineman Jason Peters managed to turn heads during an important week of practice with the team.
The nine-time Pro Bowler signed with the club in early September, didn’t see any action at all until Week 3, and then sat out Week 5 with a chest injury. But he appears to now be heading in the right direction for a rematch against his former employers when Dallas visits Philadelphia this weekend for a primetime showdown with the undefeated Eagles.
“Jason’s doing really well,” head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters at his Friday morning press conference. “I thought his yesterday work was probably the best work he’s had since he’s been here. He looks to be moving past the injury, so I really like the course that he’s on.”
That course would see the 40-year-old Peters line up Sunday night against an Eagles defensive front that he is intimately familiar with, having practiced every day against the likes of Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham for nine and 11 years, respectively.
It is exactly the kind of heavyweight clash the Cowboys had in mind when they inked Peters to come in following Tyron Smith’s injury just before the season kicked off.
The Cowboys gave the veteran nearly a month to ramp up to game readiness, finally sending him in for just 14 offensive snaps on Sept. 26 versus the Giants. The longtime tackle had been shifted to left guard, allowing Cowboys rookie and first-round pick Tyler Smith to play the position he was drafted to eventually take.
Peters’s follow-up performance saw him on the field for 21 snaps in Week 4 against Washington, but a midweek practice rib injury held him out of last Sunday’s clash with the Rams.
“I never ripped cartilage off of my ribs,” Peters explained, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “That was a first for me. It hasn’t been super-bad. Just another football injury.”
Connor McGovern and Matt Farniok have also rotated in this year at the guard position, but McCarthy declined to offer a preview of how the workload would be split this Sunday night.
“I really don’t want to get into specifics, exactly how we’re going to line up,” the coach explained, though he confirmed that Peters has been trending upward after Wednesday and Thursday’s practice sessions.
“I think he was definitely able to do a lot more, and the communication has been that he feels really good.”
When previewing what would be his 18th chapter of the bitter Cowboys-Eagles rivalry, Peters claimed this week, “It’s just another game for me.” It will be his first, though, representing Dallas.
But he also knows full well it’s more than just another game. He’s already drawn the ire of Eagles fans this week in the leadup to Sunday’s tilt. Yes, he called them “[expletive] idiots,” but that’s not what Philadelphia fans are mad about; they revel in that reputation (and Peters later re-emphasized the remark’s context, calling it a compliment that speaks to their passion).
What truly irks the Eagles faithful is that their longtime OL stalwart is now wearing the colors of their sworn enemy.
Peters is still close with many of his former teammates and spent a good chunk of the week exchanging messages with them ahead of Sunday night’s reunion.
But once the coin is flipped, Peters will be made well aware of where he is and what he’s hoping to accomplish while he’s visiting just for a night.
“Philly; that’s my city,” he said. “Just to go back, it’ll be great to beat ’em.”
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