Lane Johnson "Ready To Go," Keeping Eagles off Tightrope
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles always seem to walk a tightrope without right tackle Lane Johnson in the lineup, with victory waiting on the other side of the narrow cord, if they can make it that far, or a loss waiting should they fall.
So, it felt appropriate when Johnson said on Thursday after practice, that surgery he had in August after re-tearing a ligament in his ankle, is called a tightrope procedure, which is designed to help players return quicker from that sort of injury.
Johnson was close to returning to the lineup against Washington in the opener. He was ruled out about 90 minutes prior to kickoff and the Eagles, well, they fell from the tightrope into the abyss of another loss without Johnson.
The Eagles are now 6-12 without him in the lineup, but 36-17 with him in the lineup.
It should come as good news, then, and allow Eagles fans to perhaps exhale a bit after such a disappointing Week 1 outing when he said on Thursday that he feels a lot better this week.
“I’m ready to go,” Johnson pronounced on a videoconference call.
The Eagles surrendered eight sacks against Washington, not all on the O line, but that unit certainly doesn’t get absolved from any of the blame.
“I watched from the sidelines,” said Johnson. “I gotta pretty nice tan, and got my bald head nice and burned … How we started, it was looking really nice. And then, really, a tale of two halves.
“Just not executing as far as offense, we gotta click better. There’s really no excuse. All the wrongs we did on Sunday, we can make it up this Sunday. That’s really it. There’s a lot of positives in the game. As far as the sacks, it’s not executing, it’s not picking up the blitzes correctly and so on and so forth.”
Johnson was limited in Thursday’s practice, but that was simply a precaution to see how swelling in the ankle responded to a Wednesday practice in which Johnson was a full participant.
The swelling was too much for him to play last week, but Johnson and the medical staff seem to have it under control this week, at least to the point he can play.
“I won’t be 100 percent, but I’ll be able to play,” said Johnson. “As long as I’m not feeling pain, I have to get my reps and get some game action. Just have to deal with the swelling. That’s really the main issue.”
Defensive end Derek Barnett and running back Miles Sanders, both of whom missed the opener but have been full participants in both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices, are on track to play Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams in the home opener.
Johnson said the ankle injury happened in one of the team's scrimmages, probably the first one of on Aug. 21 because he was listed as day-to-day on Aug. 23 after a day off for the team on Aug. 22.
“I was really pushing last week, but the swelling was a big issue,” said Johnson. “The bus ride (to Landover, Md., on Saturday) was about two-and-a-half hours. That night and in the morning, it swelled up pretty big, and ballooned up on me.”
Rookie Jack Driscoll started in Johnson’s place, and Johnson was impressed with the 23-year-old from Auburn as well as Nate Herbig, the 22-year-old who made his first NFL start and played right guard.
“My only advice to them was to not think,” said Johnson. “I wasn’t trying to be in their ear a whole lot, because the first game, there are so many things going through your mind. I told them to calm down and take one play at a time. As far as two guys, I thought they did well.”
Neither Driscoll nor Herbig, though, are the player Johnson is, not yet, maybe not ever, and certainly, neither player has the kind of record Johnson brings when he plays.
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