Philadelphia Eagles Landon Dickerson Injury Reaction: Christmas Day Trouble vs. New York Giants Defense?

The Philadelphia Eagles could be without both starting guards against the blitz-happy New York Giants.

PHILADELPHIA - The hits keep on coming for the Philadelphia Eagles, the latest being the short-term loss of Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson.

The third-year star out of Alabama is undergoing surgery on his thumb today, something first reported by the NFL Network and confirmed by SI.com’s Eagles Today.

The good news is that the powerful 6-6, 332-pound Dickerson is only expected to miss minimal time and will not be placed on injured reserve.

“Minimal,” however, will almost certainly be more than five days, so it’s doubtful that the 10-4 Eagles will have Dickerson while trying to halt a three-game skid on Christmas Day against the 5-9 New York Giants.

Sua Opeta could be in line for another star against the Giants / © Bill Streicher, USA TODAY

Complicating matters further is that starting right guard Cam Jurgens missed the 20-17 loss to Seattle on Monday night with a pec strain.

Sua Opeta stepped in for Jurgens against the Seahawks ahead of rookie third-round rookie Tyler Steen with the tipping point being the veteran’s presence in handling silent-count responsibilities in a tough environment.

While that’s typically not an issue at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles do use some silent counts at home when going with a tempo offense.

For that reason, it’s safe to say they will stick with Opeta at right guard unless Jurgens is ready to go, something that will become clearer by Thursday when the Eagles release their first practice report of the week.

That would leave Steen as the next man up in place of Dickerson at LG. Steen played one snap at left guard in place of a banged-up Dickerson against the Seahawks. The rookie also started one game at right guard against Dallas on Nov. 5 when Jurgens was on IR earlier in the season due to a foot injury and Opeta began to falter as his replacement.

In that small sample size, the 6-6, 321-pound Steen held his own as a run blocker but struggled mightily against the Cowboys’ impressive pass rush.

Eagles OG Landon Dickerson Undergoing Surgery

The Giants are limited offensively right now with backup quarterback Tommy DeVito running the show and lean on defensive coordinator Wink Martindae’s aggressive defense led by defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, perhaps the best pure football player on the team.

Only Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores (47.7 percent) dials up extra pressure more than Martindale’s 41.9 percent clip. The Eagles, meanwhile, have been struggling in the passing game where Jalen Hurts is coming off a season-low 143-yard effort against the Seahawks with two interceptions.

Of course, Seattle went with heavy cover-2 looks against Philadelphia, almost a 180 from Marindale’s typical mindset which can be hit and miss, something highlighted by the team’s 19th-ranked pressure percentage despite sending extra men at the QB so often.

Past Opeta and Steen, the Eagles still have veteran Jack Driscoll, who has played extensively at right guard in the past and could dip into the practice squad as well with Brett Toth, Le’Raven Clark, and Lecitus Smith as the options there.