Eagles right tackle Winston Justice will undergo surgery today on his left knee to treat a bone chip. Depending on the results of the surgery, Justice could be riding the pine for a few weeks — or sidelined for the entire 2011 season.

It’s tough to tell exactly what will happen with Justice. A team source told Reuben Frank that the procedure was only a “clean-out” and that there’s “absolutely no reason” to believe the injury is serious. On the other hand, Geoff Mosher cites a (presumably separate) team source that told him Justice might need microfracture surgery. Microfracture surgery is the same procedure that derailed Victor Abiamiri’s 2010 season.

NBC10’s John Clark reports, “Winston tells me he hopes its nothing bad, expecting just a cleanout.”

If only wishing made it so. Either we have a reporter blowing up a report into something much bigger than it should be or the Eagles front office trying to spin Justice’s injury to deflect attention from their pursuit of a replacement. Neither party inspires much trust, so we may just have to wait for the results of the surgery to be made public.

Justice has a reasonable contract through 2013, but if his health and reliability are in doubt, the Eagles will need to bring in new players who can replace him. Presumably, that will happen through the draft, where the Eagles were already expected to look closely at offensive tackle prospects who could also contribute at guard. Backups King Dunlap and Austin Howard could also get opportunities to start in Justice’s absence.

Originally published at NBC Philadelphia. Photo from Getty.