Jason Peters was fishing on a creek in Texas when he received the call earlier this month from Chicago Bears offensive line coach Juan Castillo.
“I was like, ‘Uh-oh. I know what this is,’ ” Peters said Monday at Halas Hall.
Peters had been biding his time after parting in the offseason with the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he spent 12 of his 17 NFL seasons. He had no plans to retire after playing in eight games for the Eagles in 2020. He still loved the game too much, even at age 39.
“When you stop loving the game, then you let it go,” Peters said. “Right now, I still love doing it. It’s fun to me going out on Sundays. My nephews and family watch me. … I like the camaraderie with the guys, the locker room. You don’t get that (anywhere) else but here.”
After the Eagles let Peters enter free agency, he was waiting for the right situation to come up. Castillo presented it to him.
The Bears had an opening at left tackle with rookie Teven Jenkins out for an extended period because of back surgery. And Peters had experience working with Castillo and Bears coach Matt Nagy with the Eagles.
Peters believed that familiarity would not only help him acclimate to the team quickly, but also help their working relationship throughout the season.
“We can get through certain things during the season,” he said, “versus going somewhere new where you don’t really know the guys or the coaches and they’re pushing you to an extent where it’s kind of hurting you because they don’t really know you. This situation is good because I know all the coaches and the staff. They know me and they know what I can do. They’re just letting me get my legs and stuff under me right now.”
Peters practiced with the Bears for the second time Monday after signing a one-year deal worth up to $1.75 million a week earlier.
He conditioned on his own while waiting to find a new team, but he said he has some work to do to get in football shape with three weeks to go until the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Nagy said the Bears are slowly ramping up Peters’ workload this week ahead of the final preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday.
“I knew the guys were in training camp, so I would go run around the track and try to do training camp conditioning,” Peters said. “But it’s not like getting out here and putting a helmet on and competing. A whole different conditioning level.”
Castillo said last week he watched recent film of Peters at the request of general manager Ryan Pace as the Bears were deciding whether to sign him. Castillo determined that while Peters isn’t the “elite athlete” he once was during his stretch as a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro, he still is a good athlete.
Peters was limited last year to eight games as he dealt with a toe injury that he said he suffered in the Eagles’ opener against the Washington Football Team. He originally thought he sprained the toe but found out later in the season it was broken and dislocated. He continued to play through the injury until the Eagles placed him on injured reserve before Week 14 and he had surgery.
For those wondering if Peters still has what it takes to start at left tackle, he had a suggestion.
“I just tell them to come watch the game or practice and see if they can see if I’m 39 out there,” he said. “I feel good. I’ve still got my quicks, my strength. It’s getting my legs up under me because the guys started in April. They’ve got a big head start on me, so I’m just trying to get my legs where their legs are right now, doing extra stuff and conditioning stuff and the weight room.”
The Bears have billed it as a “competition” for the left tackle spot with rookie Larry Borom and fifth-year pro Elijah Wilkinson, but Peters is the presumed starter given his resume.
He said he “wouldn’t cry about it” if he didn’t win the job and said he would help mold the younger players, many of whom have expressed excitement about learning from a player who could be headed to the Hall of Fame.
“His presence, it speaks for itself,” right tackle Germain Ifedi said. “He doesn’t even really need to say anything. … He carries himself like someone who has done it for a while and has done it at a high level for a while, so it’s impressive to see.
“I’m in my sixth year, but I’m still learning, I’m still wanting to learn, so having a guy like that to even just work on some things outside just now, it’s just great to be out there. Even if it’s making me 1% better, it’s great to soak it all in.”
As for what drives Peters at this stage in his career, he said he has one goal: winning.
Peters was on the Eagles team that won Super Bowl LII, but he didn’t play in the game because he was on injured reserve after tearing his ACL and MCL.
“I really don’t have (anything) to prove,” Peters said. “I just want to win, get another ring, to be honest. I was talking to Juan yesterday — the Pro Bowl, I got plenty of those. The All-Pros, all the accolades. The biggest one for me now is Super Bowl. I got one. I would like another here with the Chicago Bears.”
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