An already ugly season got even worse for the Eagles Saturday night when they lost to the Redskins — in more ways than one.
For starters, Washington clinched the NFC East title and officially eliminated Philadelphia from playoff contention. And as soon as it became clear that the Eagles were going to lose the game, one of the team’s veterans reportedly pulled himself out of the game.
Howard Eskin of FOX 29 in Philly reports that left tackle Jason Peters benched himself in the fourth quarter so as to not risk getting injured.
last nights #eagles gm sources told me LT Jason Peters pulled himself out of game 4th qt. Heard to say "I'm not going to get hurt 4 this"
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) December 27, 2015
Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News confirmed the report, noting that Peters suffered a hyperextended elbow early in the game but was healthy enough to play. In fact, he didn’t even receive treatment for the injury after the game.
Peters is an eight-time Pro Bowler who has been in the league for more than 10 years. Those are the guys you hope will hold your team together when facing adversity, but Peters apparently did the opposite of that on Saturday.
We have heard rumblings all season long about Chip Kelly losing his locker room. The comments that were made by one player’s agent made it seem even worse than that. If Peters’ behavior is any indication, those rumors might not be far off.
