PHILADELPHIA -- Despite rupturing his right Achilles tendon twice within a month last spring, Jason Peters said on Tuesday that he could have played late last season and that he anticipated playing near his all-pro form from 2011 for the Eagles this coming season.

The left tackle met with reporters not long after he went through new Eagles coach Chip Kelly's first workout of the offseason. It was the first time Peters formally spoke with the media since his injury last March.

He said that he knew Dec. 1, shortly after the Eagles shut him down for the season, that he was healthy enough to play.

"I could have, but I didn't want to risk it with a losing season," Peters said at the NovaCare Complex. "The coaches kind of held me back a little bit."

The 31-year-old Peters said that he has been 100 percent since "January, end of December," but added that doctors said there was a chance he would be only 98 percent back to health. If true, 2 percent less of pre-injury Peters would be better than most NFL offensive lineman at 100 percent.

Still, he is attempting to return from an injury that many players who have suffered it said typically took more than a year of playing to heal completely. And Peters not only ruptured it once while working out in Texas but a second time several weeks later, when he fell off a Roll-a-Bout medical scooter.

He said that doctors told him that he did not have an increased risk for another Achilles rupture after the second tear. Even so, the Eagles have to be wary about Peters' health and age and could be looking for his eventual replacement in the draft, perhaps with the fourth overall pick.

When Peters went down last offseason, the Eagles did not find an able substitute. They were never going to find a tackle as good, but Demetress Bell and King Dunlap were significant drop-offs. The entire offensive line struggled as a result, and then center Jason Kelce and right tackle Todd Herremans were also lost to season-ending injuries.

"It was a big difference," Peters said. "I'm a starter. I'm the No. 1 offensive lineman in the league. Me being out there carried everybody else and makes them play their best."

Kelce (torn anterior cruciate ligament) and Herremans (broken foot bone) are also expected to be ready by the season. Kelce said he participated in most of Tuesday's workout.

"The workout today was up-tempo, a lot of drills and different stuff that we normally don't do," Peters said.

Much has been made of the type of offense Kelly plans to install and the kind of quick-paced practices he intends to run. Peters said that his first impression of Kelly, who could not oversee Tuesday's conditioning per the collective bargaining agreement, was that he was "real laid back (and) straight to the point."

The 6-foot-4 Peters said that he was aiming to lose 25 more pounds and get to a playing weight of 320. He said he typically played at 335-340 pounds. Peters said he wasn't losing the weight because Kelly asked him to but because he wanted to be ready for whatever "Coach throws at us."

"Whether we're running 100 plays a game or 60, I'll be ready for that," he said.

Much of Kelly's plan remains a mystery. Peters said that Kelly unveiled a few plays Monday and that the scheme was "pretty much the same blocking-wise." In February, new offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland did not profess to have a specific blocking technique like his predecessor, Howard Mudd.

Peters thrived in Mudd's scheme, which often made the offensive lineman the aggressor, particularly in pass protection. He was voted to his fifth straight Pro Bowl and was considered arguably the best left tackle in the game in 2011.

"Any time I get an offensive line coach, I don't forget what I learned from the last one," Peters said. "I just take what he gives me and add it on to my game. So it's not that I'm going to throw away Howard Mudd's stuff. I'm just going to add on what Coach Stoutland's going to give me."

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