Peters is too valuable to be throwing punches

Jason Peters slipped on sweatpants and a tarpaulin-size green T-shirt Tuesday, then turned to face the group of reporters who had gathered at his locker. Next to him, DeMeco Ryans had dressed and was stepping away from the scrum, making for the door, as he said to Peters, "Got to answer the question, buddy."

Peters did. He'll forever be a folk hero around here for what he did Sunday, for seeing Washington nose tackle Chris Baker flatten Nick Foles with a gratuitous blindside hit to the ribs and for reacting as he did: chugging 10 yards to Baker and sending a right hand toward his head.

No single punch has done more for an athlete's esteem in Philadelphia since 1971, since Joe Frazier landed the most famous left hook in boxing history and sent Muhammad Ali to the Madison Square Garden canvas. But no matter how many standing ovations Peters gets at Lincoln Financial Field from now until the end of his Eagles career, no matter how much solidarity the incident showed among Peters and Foles and their teammates, nothing should obscure this hard truth: Peters never should have done what he did. He never should have thrown that punch and compelled the officiating crew to eject him from the Eagles' 37-34 victory.

For the five minutes he answered questions after practice Tuesday, Peters cut to the conundrum at the heart of what happened Sunday. He admitted, "I was wrong," and he was willing to accept whatever fine the league is sure to levy against him. Nevertheless, he had defended his defenseless quarterback, and in a vacuum, without the necessary context, this was indeed a noble act.

"I'd do the same thing if it happened again," Peters said. "A guy cheap-shotted my quarterback, and I'm going to protect him."

Sure enough, Foles sounded like he'd lie down in traffic out of loyalty to Peters - "I love Jason," he said - and it was difficult to find another Eagle who didn't want to pat him on the back.

"Even if you don't like your brother and somebody picks on him, you're going to stick up for your brother," lineman Todd Herremans said. "None of us are upset at J.P. for what he did. We think that in the same situation, with the same timing, it would have been the same type of reaction."

That's fine as far as it goes, but deep down even Herremans had to understand: This is less about what Peters did than the fact that it was he who did it. He isn't some fourth-line enforcer in hockey whose spot on a roster depends on his ability to maintain a peace-through-strength shield around an untouchable teammate.

Put simply, Peters isn't dispensable. He's the best left tackle in the league, and even if the Eagles hadn't already been shorthanded along their offensive line, there would have been no justifying his getting ejected from an intradivisional game that was tied with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

As it was, Lane Johnson was still serving his suspension for using a banned performance-enhancing substance, and Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce were injured. So once the officials threw Peters out, the Eagles were left with just one of their usual starters on the line: Herremans, who had to move to tackle from guard because Peters was no longer available.

Everyone lauded Foles for the toughness he displayed Sunday, for throwing for 325 yards and three touchdowns and hanging in there despite hit after hit, and Peters kept piling on the praise Tuesday, too. "He got right back up and won the game for us," he said. The thing is, Foles might not have had to be so hardy had Peters managed to control himself enough just to jaw in Baker's face or give a subtle shove, rather than trying to bore a hole through Baker's helmet with his fist. And the Eagles are fortunate that, as of Tuesday, the NFL hadn't decided to suspend Peters for Sunday's game against the 49ers.

"It could have led to something else," offensive lineman Dennis Kelly said. "It is good to see the camaraderie because it does show the team has bonded and we're going to play for each other, but you still want to avoid that situation at all costs."

Maybe that's why Chip Kelly, when asked about Peters on Monday, declined to answer the question. Responding would have put Kelly in an almost impossible position. Remember: He didn't order this code red. It's easy to see that Peters had galvanized the players, had rallied them around himself and Foles, yet Peters' actions had cost the Eagles their best and arguably most important player at a game's most critical moment, and how does a head coach endorse such impulsive, unsound judgment?

So yes, they've been celebrating Jason Peters inside and outside the Eagles' locker room over the last three days, but all that admiration ought to come with a disclaimer.

Great job, J.P. Great job.

Just make sure you never do it again.

@MikeSielski