Lane Johnson's Status Remains Murky
PHILADELPHIA - A late scratch for last Sunday's game against Kansas City due to a personal matter, Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson is returning to Philadelphia today, per NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Johnson, 31, was not back at the NovaCare Complex Wednesday morning, however, as the Eagles began preparations for their next test at Carolina on Sunday.
“He’s not here, still dealing with a personal matter,” head coach Nick Sirianni said on Wednesday. “Really to go any more further into that, still going to respect his privacy. But he is not here.”
When pressed if Johnson would be in the mix to play against the Panthers, Sirianni again leaned on the "personal matter" and wouldn't offer any further clarification.
Against the Chiefs, the plan was to play musical chairs at the guard positions with Landon Dickerson moving to LG to replace Isaac Seumalo and Jack Driscoll, fresh off injured reserve, being inserted at RG.
About two hours before the game Sirianni learned Johnson wouldn't be playing and the plan changed to Driscoll kicking out to his more natural right tackle position and Nate Herbig getting the start at RG.
Without Johnson, the Eagles' OL was down four of their five opening-day starters with the lone man left standing being veteran center Jason Kelce.
The group as a whole - from left to right (from left to right): Andre Dillard, Dickerson, Kelce, Herbig, and Driscoll - performed very well, however.
“As far as Jack and Nate, the guys that stepped in, I thought they did a great job, I really did,” Sirianni said. “I thought they battled.”
Sirianni believes he has a competitive advantage by holding his plans on the OL for Carolina close to his vest but did note typical starting left tackle Jordan Mailata (MCL sprain) would return to practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
