Lane Johnson Seeking a Second Opinion

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson is seeking a second opinion on his troublesome ankle, ominous news for an Eagles team already reeling from a host of injuries on the offensive line.

Johnson was in and out of the Week 4 game at San Francisco and was unable to finish the 38-29 loss at Pittsburgh Sunday, the remnants of late-August "tightrope surgery."

Johnson has been struggling to control swelling since the surgery and needed to have a cyst drained last week, something he said alleviated the pressure in the joint. Johnson tweaked the ankle again, however, against the Steelers and was unable to push off of it properly forcing rookie Jack Driscoll into the lineup.

"In the case of Lane Johnson, medically, we're waiting on second opinion, so there are some reports still coming in on Lane so I don't any update yet with him," coach Doug Pederson said Monday.

Johnson has been honest about the fact that the ankle would be a lingering problem moving forward so the fact he's seeking a second opinion could mean that the veteran feels it's not possible to continue until the ankle is at least a little more stable coming off the surgery.

In other injury news, starting cornerback Darius Slay is in the concussion protocol after leaving the game in Pittsburgh, leaving his status up in the air for Baltimore in Week 6.

"Obviously, Darius Slay is in the concussion protocol right now," Pederson said, "so I obviously can't comment any further on that."

The news was better regarding linebacker Duke Riley, who also left in Pittsburgh with an injury but is expected to play against the Ravens.

"Duke Riley actually came out OK," the coach said. "He was a little banged up in the game, but he's going to be fine, he's going to be OK, [and we] expect him out there this week."

Also, Pederson noted that he hopes to get receivers DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery ramped up in practice this week.

Jackson was limited last week as he attempts to return from his latest hamstring issue while Jeffery is nearing a return from Lisfranc surgery that derailed his 2019 season. An illness prevented Jeffery from more integration into practice last week.

"We're hopeful that DeSean gets incorporated into practice this week. We're obviously hopeful that Alshon gets back out there this week," Pederson said. "And we've got to make sure that these two guys are healthy first, right, and make sure they're 100 percent heading into the game."

The stellar play of Travis Fulgham has somewhat slowed the need to force the veterans to speed up their rehabs.

"You're trying to build chemistry, to build a package of plays that these guys are comfortable with and also trying to bring back a couple of veteran players that could give your offense a boost," Pederson said of when asked about weighing the hot hand vs. the proven abilities of veteran players. "We've got to see where they are first of all from a health standpoint."

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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