Eagles’ Jason Kelce says playing with Jason Peters again would be great, but he believes in Andre Dillard

It might be the biggest question about the 2020 Eagles.

After, of course, “Will there be a season?”

As things stand, the team is scheduled to play 16 games without Jason Peters at left tackle for the first time since 2012, when Peters missed the year with an Achilles tear. Even in 2012, the expectation was that Peters would return for 2013 and beyond. He did, starting all 16 games that season, and 98 of 112 games overall since the missing year.

But now, Peters is a couple of months into free agency for the first time in his 16-year career, which includes nine Pro Bowls and six All-Pro designations. Despite hints in the media of a possible return to the Eagles, as Peters languishes on the market at age 38, nothing has happened.

It’s clear that management wants to move on to 2019 first-round pick Andre Dillard. Peters will be back only if the front office and coaching staff get cold feet about Dillard – maybe deciding that the coronavirus quarantining that is disrupting spring work will make it difficult for Dillard to take the steps needed to be ready to replace a legend, on what Pro Football Focus felt was the NFL’s best offensive line in 2019.

Dillard has faced a lot of questions about his confidence, handling of public criticism, and motivation — questions he declined to address this week when contacted by The Inquirer. But Eagles center Jason Kelce spoke to reporters Thursday via Zoom, and Kelce gave Dillard a strong endorsement.

It was a bit of a balancing act – Kelce has heard the Peters rumblings as well, and was careful to say that should circumstances change, he would “always love to play with Jason Peters … the best player I’ve ever played with.”

Kelce said that either way, it is “not something I’m too worried about.”

“It is hard to imagine potentially playing without Jason Peters, the personality, the guy that he’s been to this organization. … At some point, it’s going to be the end for all of us,” Kelce said. “I don’t know if that’s this year, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Kelce said he doesn’t think missing spring work will be that big a deal for Dillard, who got four starts as a rookie, three at left tackle and one at right tackle.

“The biggest thing for returning guys … is going to be the training camp, and going against somebody in pads,” Kelce said. “He’s going to be able to go out there [during quarantining] and work on sets on [five-yard] squares, he’s going to be able to go out and work on little things. You don’t improve that much physically in OTAs and minicamps. It’s more of a mental improvement.

“You’re not putting shoulder pads on, and that’s where Andre needs to continue to get reps … continue to get one-on-ones and play in preseason games and live games and whatnot.”

Dillard’s start at right tackle was a disaster – he was benched at halftime. His three starts at left tackle were up and down. He showed the agility that, at 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, got him rated among the top 10 or 15 prospects in the 2019 draft by many observers, but he also got manhandled more than a few times.

“Andre’s a guy that’s got incredible physical abilities. He’s very quick-twitch; he can move his feet really well. He’s athletic, he’s smart,” Kelce said. “He’s got a lot of the things that are hard to get, if you don’t have them. If there was one weakness to his game last year, it was power. I think he knows that, I think everybody knows that. It wasn’t even that big of a weakness, that we couldn’t go out there and win games with him, because we did, at times.”

Kelce said that with an offseason in the weight room, “he’ll be able to correct that, for sure. … Whether it’s playing with better technique, adding some weight, adding strength, that’ll all get better. He already has the things you can’t necessarily get better at.”

Kelce warned that even though Peters did a lot of work with Dillard last year, “it takes a lifetime” to become as schooled in the nuances as Peters.

Dillard and left guard Isaac Seumalo are the only Eagles starters on the offensive line who haven’t made All-Pro. Kelce also defended Seumalo, a 2016 third-round selection who started all 16 games last season for the first time in his career.

“I think Isaac’s a phenomenal player,” said Kelce, who called Seumalo “one of the least-respected guys on the line” by fans and reporters.

“He’s definitely way better than people have any clue [about]. He’s had a couple games that have been unfortunate,” the first being the 2017 game at Kansas City that led to Seumalo being benched for Stefen Wisniewski, who would start that season in Super Bowl LII.

Kelce noted that Seumalo had a similarly unfortunate outing last season, against Atlanta, but that otherwise he was “as solid as any guard in the NFL. I’ve been really happy to watch him go out and prove to all of you guys and everybody else who doesn’t get the opportunity to see how good he is on a daily basis that he’s one of the premier guards in this league. He’s smart, he’s athletic, he’s strong. The only question with him has been staying healthy, and he’s done that the last couple of years.

“Not only are we not worried about him, we’re going to be leaning on him to be the unbelievable player that he is.”

Kelce didn’t talk much about himself, other than to issue a “stand down” command to fans and media who have been on retirement watch ever since Kelce reportedly considered stepping away following the 2018 season. A contract extension that runs through 2021 ended those thoughts, and Kelce, who played every offensive snap last season, said that though he customarily needs some time after the season to be ready to do it all over again, he isn’t going to pull a retirement surprise on the team or the fans.

This offseason, Kelce issued a mock retirement announcement, declaring that at 32, he was stepping away from arm wrestling.

“I didn’t really think I needed to make a statement” about wanting to play in 2020, “but I guess enough people were asking and wondering what was going on ... . This has all turned into a, ‘Well is he retiring? Is he retiring?’ I can’t say this enough: When I decide to retire, you guys will know. It’ll be a very loud and emphatic statement," Kelce said.

He said he would make his intentions plain “before training camp, before free agency, before the draft. It’s not going to be sprung out of nowhere.”

Last season went well physically, he said, and he “let the team know very quickly” that he would be playing another year.

“I can’t wait to get going with the guys,” he said — whenever that might be.