According to Geof Mosher of Delawareonline.com, Eagles offense tackle Winston Justice will be undergoing a career threatening surgical procedure sometime this week. The surgeon who will execute the surgery will be the highly-regarded Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Alabama.
There’s concern that Justice might need microfracture surgery which could take a year or more to recover from. There was a time when all knee surgeries were “iffy”, and you couldn’t be sure if any player was going to return to action after the operation, but that’s not the case, now. Players come back from knee surgeries all the time, but microfracture surgery is still “iffy”.
Many times when “microfracture surgery is mentioned, front people scratch a players name off because they doubt if that player will ever return to the same level of play which they enjoyed before the surgery. This has to affect the thinking of the Eagles as they approach the draft.
The Eagles were already taking a number of serious needs into the NFL draft, now the offensive tackle position must have moved up amongst them with regard to urgency. Justice wasn’t doing a great job at the offensive tackle spot, but up until the Eagles playoff 
game against the Packers he was serviceable. They were winning with him. The Green Bay game was a setback for Justice. During on stretch during the game, he committed a couple of penalties and was beaten badly on consecutive plays, so Andy Reid benched him in favor of King Dunlap.
Dunlap entered the game a did a solid job, as the Birds mounted a comeback. Going forward I had heard that they were planning on putting the job up from grabs between Justice and Dunlap, but now what’s the team’s thinking.
We’ll have to wait and see how the Eagles feel about this situation. Are they willing to make Dunlap the starter on the right side? How soon do they think it will take Justice to return to the lineup?
Will they make offensive tackle their number one priority at this year’s draft?
Reuben Frank of Comast Sportsnet just sent out a tweet which basically contradicted the report by Mosher. Frank tells us know that the Eagles say this surgery has no chance of being career threatening or that he will need microfracture surgery.
We give you the information here on GCobb.com and you decide after that.
Best Wishes for W Justice for a full and speedy recovery, but it appears that
2011 is gone season for him as he recovers from Micro-fracture
The RT spot is open for Competition with Dunlap at preobalby #1 of teh Depth chart with A Howard as a back-up.. Even a high Drafat choice in the NFL Draft
(Constanzo,camrini,Sherrod) it’s very unlikley that a Rookie steps in and wins a RT Spot which protects VIcks Blind Side…
Paulman’s plan of Action
Shift Jason Pepters to play RT, Have Austin Howard become his back-up
Have Dunlap be the Starter at LT and then draft a OT to become his back-up at LT, plus a Todd Herremans could always slide over to LT if his Feet and mobilitiy are healthy…
A couple of Free-Agents out there at OT
#1) T Clabo from the Falcons, best OT out there and will probably be franchised by the Falcons if they are not able to get a long-term deal done
#2) Charles Johnson from the COlts (Obviously very familiar with Coach Mudd’s System)
#3) J Gaither from the Ravens (lost his Starting spot to M Oher) and does have some maturity issues but is a big player with upside if he gets his head into it
#4) J Bushrod from the Saints (2 year starter with the Saints)
#5) W Hunter from the Jets (a back-up on the Jets playing behind some All-Pro’s, Is he starter material…)
Sorry to hear this about Justice, I pray everything works out for him, If it turns out hes lost theirs no way we should even think about Dunlap, Were talking about protecting Vicks blind side, The Eagles have to go out and find a top notch tackle to protect Vick, The Eagles know its a top priority, Thats why they went and got Peters for Mcnabb, You cant do it any different for Vick, I think it should be easier finding a good free agent considering were talking the right side instead of the left, I dont want to hear picking up one in the draft unless its top 15, Any thoughts?
Matt Light for the Patriots is a Free-Agent RT at 33 years old
May be a good stop-gap player for a year or 2 , though his best playing days are behind him, he could buy them some time as they coach up some Draft picks/Howard./Dunlap.. or Justice is able to fully recover and play in 2012
There are conflicting reports on this so nobody should be jumping to conclusions..But even if it turns out to be a less serious surgery than what this post is saying Im all for replacing Justice anyway.
Paulman, I read recently that the Falcons are not going to use their Franchise tag and are not going to be able to hold onto Tyson Clabo beacuse they also have other contracts they need to work out on their O-Line…if he beacomes available I hope the Eagles can get him regardless of the outlook on Justice.
Updates…
Vikings place non-exclusive tag on LB Chad Greenaway leaving
WR Sydney Rice and DE Ray Edwards to test the Free-Agency Market (if there is none)
One last thing about Justice and I really wish him the best, I was one of few supporters on here 2-3 years ago when many people wanted his head after the embarrasing perfomance vs the Giants that Monday Night Game in which he gave up 6 sacks as the Giants got 12-13 sacks on McNabb that night.
(I still to this day blame that fiasco on the Coaching , Formations error by Coach MM and AR) but anyways, Justice is a deeply religious man and will most likley leave the game of Football and pursue his true passion of preaching for the lord if this Injury/Surgery ends up being worse than expected.. Football is not Justic’s life.. He’s a humble and devout man of few words, but his Faith and his Family are what’s most important to him and I wish him well for I don’t expect him to suit up again
I guess we will see how amazing this Mudd guy really is now
Everyone will have a chance to rest during the 2011 “season”.
King Dunlap is NOT an NFL starting offensive lineman…. looks like OT Derek Sherrod of Miss State will be the #23 pick.
K Dunlap is probably better than most teams 3rd OT.. Look around the NFL,
when a Starter at OT goes down, most teams aree in trouble and don’t have a lot of Depth or talent standign by.. Dunlap is prepared bewtter than most would be, now whether he can do it consistently remains to be seen. But look at the Giants, Redskins,Cowboys O/Lines last year after they starting having injuries.. I bet every one of those teams would have liked to have a Dunlap come off the bench in fill in for their starters when they went down…
OK…we know now that the LT position need a top player to protect Vick’s blindside and if the Eagles go into the season with a better option than what’s on the team now, that will verify everything we’ve been discussing here. Everyone knows the right side of the line needs serious attention. watch what the Eagles do even though there’s enough time to fix it. Now people are using the Cba as an excuse for the Eagles….
There was no CBA dispute last offseason..So what was the excuse then?
juan should recruit the king to his d-line and let him swat balls down.
IVE BEEN SAYING ALL SEASON WINSTON IS NOT A STARTING CALIBER LINEMAN. HE WAS GETTING VICKS HEAD KNOCKED OFF ALL SEASON. HE IS HORRIBLE. I dont care if hes getting surgery kick him off the team. He doesnt belong in the NFL period. Him or Dunlap. He is horrible always has been
@pheagles I live in atlanta dude. and Ive watched the Falcons every since Vick was there. Tyson Clabo isnt much of an upgrade. He used to block for Vick in atlanta. Hes not that good. Why do you think the falcons wouldnt mind trading him.
Supabad,,
OT T Clabo is a free-agent, so he is not tradeable …
I and pretty sre that Falcons will do all they can to re-sign him to protect Ryan
Just heard the surgery isn’t quite as dire as reported. Let’s stay tuned.
It seems that this team was in better shape when Reid had Ray Rhodes’ players on his roster.
drummer to my knowledge we had a real gm back then.
Yes, this team was better with Ray Rhodes defensive players. Also, the Eagles hold onto guys who are not starting caliber and just throw them out there. How else does Matt Mccoy go from starting linebacker to off the team DURING the same season. King Dunlap is NOT a starting tackle, he was BEAT OUT by Winston Justice of all people, that says it all!! The Eagles continue to try to win the Kentucky Derby with Quarter horses.
Not only was dunlap beat out by winston, he did not start his sr year at auburn. So the Eagles had a guy starting that could not even start on his college team.
These are the things that are fixable, that “Crystal Ball” Andy does.
I had to laugh when somebody posted that “Eagle fans were spoiled” because we demand a superbowl.
No Pittsburgh Fans might be spoiled. 49er fans might be spoiled. Cowboy fans might be spoiled. But until you give the Eagle fans at least one Superbowl victory. We are only asking you to do your job. And every NFL head coach will tell you, it’s his job to win the Superbowl.
So please do not tell football fans with a high football IQ (unlike arizona fans who could not even sell out a playoff game) (the nfl had to give them more time) that you are doing everything you can, when you kept going after “Injured Guy” and “Undersized Guy”. Then completely ignore positions of need(center kr wr(for years)). Then have a complete batch of unqualified guys coaching the team. The previous LB coach had all of 2 years semi-pro football as the high spot on his resume. That’s right Semi-pro football. With a name like shuey I honest thought he came from LB U penn state. When Ernie “the invisible Man” Sims started stinking up the stadium I decided to look up the LB coach’s qualifications and on site immeadiately passed out. When my Son’s revieved me with smelling salts and told me I was not dreaming…
You can’t halfway do anything. Do or Do not. Go for it or go home. But Andy don’t tell me how bad you want to win and keep doing the same thing that has not worked in the PASS. PUN INTENED.
To BSM,
Re Dunlap : That was also 4 years ago when Dunlap was 20 years old..He’s matured and has developed into a decent back-up player.. He was a 7th Rd Draft selection so I don’t think anyone expected him to be a Pro-Bowler…did you ???…Every team needs 2-3 Solid back-up players along the O/Line and
I would say he is one of them and again , look around the NFL and tell me
what teams have starter type of players as back-ups on their OL.
Paulman…our problem is the we have starters that should be back ups on the right side of the line….McGlynn, Cole, Gilles, and Justice, are all back ups at best. When will the Eagles draft high for a top Center? When will they draft a top gaurd instead of turning college tackles into gaurds? We’re just tired of the same things with the same results…It’s like going outside at night wishing the sun would come up. Night is night and day is day. This team needs to change it’s philosophy in the draft and rethink that over 30 rule for players who are still playing at an high level.
Justice was playing pretty good until he injured his knee halfway thru the Season and was never the same… Coach Ar screwed up big time last SUmmer
(which I mentioned many times) when he rushed Center J Jackson back too soon.. Jackson should have been on the PUP list and sat out the first 5-6 weeks until he was 100% healthy and then be availalbe for the final 10 weeks of the Season.. The other big reason was Nick Cole who was too out of shape
and thought he would be the Center and then when he injured his knee in Pre-Season, he was basically ineffective all year long… McGlynn I though played pretty good considering he was stuck in there at Center when he is natually a Guard I blame the O/Line inconsistency in 2010 on Coach AR from last year..
I think MJG was pretty consistent last Season and was his best Season since being in the NFL but is probably better suited as a back-up player
Justice & MJG and were 2nd/3rd Round Selections and should be Starter
material, but remember, they came from Run first type of programs in COllege from USC and Geirgia nad their Strengths are in run blocking, but since the Eagles don’t run the ball and pass it 40-50 times a game, these players are not playing in a system that utilizes their strengths better..again bad Coaching/Scouting Evaluations in my book… I blame Coach AR’s System then these 2 players…
Paulman you make a valid point about dunlap.
So the error is the fact that the starter is not starter material. Not for a Superbowl team. And I might remind you that the NFL use to have over 14 rounds of drafting and the Patriots starting QB was a 6th round pick.
Every player drafted should be seen as a starter. Otherwise Just have 4 rounds of drafting and sign everybody as free agents.