Jason Peters could miss Saints game

Jason Peters did not participate in the Eagles' practice Wednesday because of a lingering quadriceps injury, and the team is preparing for the possibility that Peters cannot play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

"He's as tough a guy as I've been around here in the three years I've been here, and if he can go, he will go," coach Chip Kelly said. "But, he's a guy we've really got to take a real good look at this week in terms of what he can give us."

Peters was hurt in the fourth quarter of the Week 3 win over the Jets. He was questionable last week against Washington and tried playing before taking himself out of the game after six plays. Starting right guard Matt Tobin took over for Peters at left tackle, but Kelly said it is not certain that Tobin will take over for Peters.

"It depends," Kelly said. "It could be Lane [Johnson] at left tackle. We have a couple combinations that we can work there. . . . We've got four days to take a look at the combinations we can have in there if Jason can't go."

Johnson, who was limited at practice with a right knee and ankle injury, is the team's starting right tackle. He does not practice at left tackle, and Kelly said the Eagles would not put him there if Johnson doesn't practice in that spot. If Tobin is the left tackle, the team could play Dennis Kelly at right guard.

The good news for the Eagles was that left guard Allen Barbre (groin) returned to practice after sitting out Tuesday. Kelly does not anticipate adding an offensive lineman this week, which would indicate that the team does not expect to be missing more than one lineman for the game.

Kelly took more of the responsibility for the team's offensive woes, going beyond his usual claims that the problems are related to execution. Kelly channeled former coach Andy Reid's famous response to similar problems.

"I've got to do a better job play-calling and put us in better situations so we've got a little bit manageable third-down situations, in terms of always being in third-and-long," Kelly said. "Percentage-wise, you're just not going to convert as much as you are going to convert on third-and-short and third-and-medium."

The Eagles have converted 26.5 percent of their third downs. That's the second-worst percentage in the league. The only team worse is the Chiefs, coached by Reid.

Also missing practice were cornerback Byron Maxwell (quadriceps), linebacker Kiko Alonso (knee), defensive end Brandon Bair (groin), and linebacker Mychal Kendricks (hamstring). Defensive ends Cedric Thornton (hand) and Taylor Hart (shoulder) practiced after missing the last two games. Safety Chris Maragos (quadriceps) practiced after missing the Washington game.