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According to Howard Eskin, Philadelphia Eagles starting center Jason Kelce may miss some significant time due to an injury Kelce suffered during the team's 37-34 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Starting to hear that @eagles C Jason Kelce likely to have surgery for some form of hernia. Could miss up to 2 months. Eag looking 4 player
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) September 22, 2014
Kelce left the Eagles-Redskins game early with what was described as an abdominal injury and did not return. Backup center David Molk played in place of Kelce.
Kelce's injury is now being described as a sports hernia. This is obviously not good news for an Eagles offensive line that is already majorly banged up. Starting left guard Evan Mathis is on injured reserve (designated to return) with an MCL injury. Full-time right tackle starter Lane Johnson is still serving a four-game suspension that will not end until September 29. Fill-in right tackle starter Allen Barbre suffered a season-ending high ankle injury in Week 1.
The loss of Kelce certainly hurts Philadelphia. Kelce's impressive athleticism makes him invaluable as a blocker down-field. (See: this play.) If the reported timeline of two months is to be believed, Kelce would not be able to return until around late November or early December. If that's the case, Philadelphia could be without Kelce for around seven or eight games.
With Kelce missing time, the Eagles will need another player who can play center. Molk is the only healthy center the Eagles have on the roster right now. Perhaps Philadelphia will consider calling up practice squad center/guard Josh Andrews. Andrews is an undrafted rookie free agent, however, and the team might search for a veteran player instead.
Philadelphia may be 3-0 right now but the injury issues are starting to pile up. This is just another unfortunate situation for the Eagles' sake.
UPDATE (1:09 PM EST) - Eagles head coach Chip Kelly confirms that Kelce is dealing with a sports hernia injury and will have surgery.
Chip Kelly: Just saw Kelce, he's going to have sports hernia surgery, not sure how long he'll be out for.
— Eagles Insider (@EaglesInsider) September 22, 2014