Jason Peters: Last Year Was ‘Hurtful,’ ‘Frustrating’
Jason Peters. (Jeff Fusco)
Jason Peters addressed the media today after practice, talking about Chip Kelly and what went wrong last season for the first time. He echoed many of the sentiments of his teammates, indicating the Eagles’ former coach was intolerant, predictable and bad for veterans.
The offensive lineman was particularly discouraged by Kelly’s lack of adaptability, and how the former coach didn’t make needed changes.
“It was frustrating. An older guy like me, I’m just trying to get that ring,” Peters said. “To keep losing like that, it was hurtful.”
Peters pointed the blame at Kelly for the team’s offensive failure, mentioning that they used the same snap count for every play. He also thought the amount of one-on-ones offensive linemen were assigned hurt them.
“I just think it was more scheme,” Peters said. “Man, it’s the National Football League. If the running back is to the left, and you’re running a zone read, where do you think the ball is going? To the right, so it’s just — they caught up to us.
“We just needed to change it up a little bit, especially with Sam [Bradford] back there. They know he’s not going to run it, so it kind of put our hands behind our back.”
Peters added he still feels he’s at the top of his game, and that he’s somewhat rejuvenated by the change in coach and offense. He noted that he’s “year-to-year” in terms of the number of good seasons he has left in him, but that he doesn’t want to put a number on it.
“If you run 100 times in a row back-to-back-to-back, don’t you think the 50th time, you’re going to be a little bit slower? But if you get a little bit of rest, you’re going be a little bit faster,” Peters said. “When you go back to the huddle and you get that wind, you’re just a little bit stronger when you go back to the line.”
Peters, who battled injuries last year, said he’s “looking forward” to how the current coaching staff will take care of him, and that Kelly’s tempo made it tougher for him to stay healthy. He thinks he’ll be a “dominant force” as long as he’s not hurt this season, and he believes gaining weight will help him because he thought losing weight last year hurt him.
He also feels being able to audible will be “very helpful,” in part because the running backs grew discouraged by having to run into a wall of defenders when they thought the play should’ve been changed. Peters believes Doug Pederson being a former player will be very beneficial, adding that the current coaching staff has more respect for veterans than the previous one did.
“I think so, because the last couple of years, there wasn’t a lot of vets. And any vet that stood up and had something to say, we got rid of him,” Peters said. “But Doug was a player here, and he understands veteran players. And he understands the game, so I think it’s better.”