Eagles’ Jason Peters is ‘week-to-week’ with knee injury, so rookie Andre Dillard is next up

Carson Wentz will be without his bodyguard for a few weeks.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson said during his Wednesday news conference that Jason Peters is “week-to-week” with a knee injury.

“Jason Peters is a little more extensive, probably a week-to-week decision with him,” Pederson said.

The 37-year-old offensive tackle, nicknamed “The Bodyguard,” will be replaced by rookie Andre Dillard. Dillard was the Eagles’ 2019 first-round pick. He was drafted out of Washington State as the heir apparent to the nine-time Pro Bowler.

Peters hurt his knee during the first half of the team’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. He briefly returned, but Dillard played 47 snaps. Thrust into the game while the Eagles were trailing and throwing the ball often, Dillard had his struggles against the Vikings’ strong edge-rush tandem of Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffin.

Now, Dillard will be getting his first NFL start.

“It’s why we drafted him,” Pederson said. “We’ve got total confidence in Andre. I go back and think about what [Eagles offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai] did his first start. It wasn’t perfect. I think about what Andre did last week in Minneapolis. It wasn’t perfect. He’ll learn from it and get better.”

While Peters is expected to miss some time, Pederson said that linebacker Nigel Bradham (ankle) and DeSean Jackson (abdomen) are now more “day-to-day."