Sielski: At 34, Peters shows Eagles they can still count on him

In the early minutes of the Eagles' Thursday practice, Jason Peters made a young man fly. Peters and the other starting offensive linemen were carrying out a drill, firing out of three-point stances and drive-blocking ersatz defenders, who held thick leather cushions against their chests to soften the impacts. The young man - backup guard Dillon Gordon, a 23-year-old undrafted rookie - stood in front of Peters, bracing himself.

When the coach's whistle sounded to start the drill, Peters surged forward, thrust his hands forward into the cushion, pumped his legs, and lifted Gordon off the ground as if Gordon were a giant barbell and Peters were trying to clean-and-jerk him. Peters is 6-foot-4 and 328 pounds, but Gordon is hardly a runt. He's 6-4 and 322 pounds, and his legs kicked like a swimmer's for the half-second Peters held him in the air.

"He does that every day," Gordon said. "The way he practices is the way he plays."

It was true when the Eagles traded for Peters in April 2009, and it has been true for most of his career with them, and in one of the more reassuring aspects of their 3-0 start, it has been true again this season. The Eagles have needed several uncertain things to become certain, in the best of ways, for them to play as they have so far.

They needed Carson Wentz to develop quickly and their cornerbacks to hold their own and Doug Pederson to be a competent-to-excellent head coach, and they needed Peters - 34 years old, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, an eventual inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame - to be the left tackle he has always been, or close to it. He has. There has been nary a worry.

That Peters would remain the fulcrum of the Eagles' line and, given the importance of his position, perhaps the entire offense was not regarded as a fait accompli before this season. He declined to be interviewed for this column, and though he's not a chatty sort by nature, it's possible that he is less inclined to speak with the media this season than he once might have been. He missed two games last season because of back problems and at times seemed a tick slow both off the snap and when shuffling into his stance.

If Peters, whom the Eagles signed through the 2018 season, believed that Chip Kelly's breakneck offense and rigorous practices hampered him, that all he needed was a more conventional system and schedule to return to form, his age and the wear and tear of 13 NFL seasons were reason enough to view his potential renaissance with skepticism.

But replacing Kelly and his philosophies with Pederson and his more orthodox thinking does appear to have helped the Eagles' offense, particularly the line.

"Sometimes, it's like we're in slow motion because we're not gassed all the time," guard Allen Barbre said.

Besides, Peters isn't inclined to appreciate skepticism of his ability anyway.

"He takes things very personal in terms of his level of play," center Jason Kelce said. "He's a proud man, proud of the way he plays, like he should be. It's more than just a game for him. This is what he's built his legacy on, the type of man he is, and I think that's the way he carries himself."

Peters' fellow linemen speak of him much as Kelce did, in evocative tones. They have a deep respect for him, for his evolution from an undrafted rookie tight end with the Buffalo Bills in 2004, and his unwillingness to rest on his considerable laurels. When guard Brandon Brooks was with the Houston Texans, he began regularly watching film of Peters at the recommendation of the team's left tackle, Duane Brown.

"The things he did on tape when he was younger and the things he's doing now are unbelievable," said Brooks, who signed with the Eagles in March. "For a guy his size moving like that, it's crazy."

Peters had remained a tight end and special-teams player - he blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals - through the first several weeks of his rookie season.

"One day, I'll never forget, they decided to bring him down to the offensive line for one-on-ones against the defensive line," said Ross Tucker, who was a starting guard on the 2004 Bills and now analyzes the NFL for NBC. One-on-ones are pure pass-protection workouts. No drill is more difficult for an offensive lineman.

"They put him in there," Tucker said in a phone interview, "and nobody could beat him. He had never done it before. He had no technique. He had no idea what he was doing. But his feet and his balance were that good that right away nobody could beat him."

The following year, the Bills cut Tucker and made Peters their starting right tackle, and to this day, whenever he attends an Eagles practice, Tucker teases Peters about stealing his spot on the roster. I was one of the leaders in the room, and you were a practice-squad nothing. Now, you've made a bazillion dollars, and I'm the host of "The Ross Tucker Podcast." Peters always laughs, then goes back to work.

"Practice tends to create habits, whether it's technique or effort," Kelce said. "So everybody else watches the game and sees him running downfield after a safety, and they're like, 'Dude, he's still giving great effort.' But they don't see that we'll do a run drill, and when the linebacker he's going to block disappears, he doesn't just stop, like most guys do. He keeps running and trying to find somebody else to block. And that's how he is. That's one thing I'll never take away from him. Not only is he a great player and a great athlete, but when he's out there, he's working hard."

He does so still, every day.

msielski@phillynews.com

@MikeSielski