Uncertainty Remains with Lane Johnson
If fans were hoping for a quick conclusion to the personal issue that forced Eagles star right tackle Lane Johnson out of Sunday's 42-30 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, they didn't get in on Monday from head coach Nick Sirianni.
“Like I said (Sunday), he's going through a personal matter. And we're just going to keep it at that for now," Sirianni said at his Monday afternoon virtual presser after his team fell to 1-3.
Johnson was set to man his usual RT position until about two hours before the game.
"I found out a couple hours before the game," Sirianni said when discussing the absence after the game.
Already hamstrung due to three injuries on the offensive line to Isaac Seumalo (season-ending Lisfranc surgery), Brandon Brooks (strained pec), and Jordan Mailata (sprained knee), the Eagles originally planned to go with Andre Dillard, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Jack Driscoll and Johnson from left to right.
Johnson was limited in practice last Wednesday with ankle soreness but was a full participant on Thursday and Friday.
Johnson's personal issue caused a further shuffling with Driscoll, who was just activated from Injured Reserve from his own strained pec, sliding outside to RT and Nate Herbig being inserted at RG.
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Driscoll didn't take a snap all week at tackle.
“I think the offensive line played well," said tight end Dallas Goedert, who had five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown against KC.
"They got thrown in there. I don’t think Jack Driscoll took a snap at right tackle all week. He was thinking he was going to play guard. He went out there and he played pretty well...we were able to move the ball pretty well, and then we just have to find a way to score.”
Already Dickerson was moving from RG to LG after Seumalo was shut down for the season, a move designed to keep the second-round pick on the field at the same position moving forward.
When the musical chairs stopped only Kelce was left from the Week 1 starting lineup against the Chiefs. It was the 109th straight start for the veteran center.
"I think [run game coordinator/offensive line coach] Jeff Stoutland and [offensive coordinator] Shane Steichen did a phenomenal job getting everybody ready to go," Sirianni said of his reshaped O-Line. "Jeff Stoutland, our offensive line coach, he's got everybody ready to play in all these different scenarios if different scenarios happen. Well, we were posed with one of those scenarios (Sunday).
"I thought the offensive line battled. I thought they played really well. That's just a tribute to Coach Stout of how good of a football coach he is."
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With Kelce and four backups, the Eagles' offense was still able to accumulate 461 yards of total offense against the Chiefs and allowed three sacks, a more than yeoman effort.
"[Stoutland has] gotten the guys better, as a whole, with their fundamentals and he mentally prepares them," said Sirianni. "Then just a tribute to the guys who stepped in and played. They really played well. ... I thought they battled. They played their tails off. They played hard. They played physical. We have a lot of warriors right there in that group."
On Monday Sirianni lauded Driscoll and Herbig.
“Can’t say enough for how Jack Driscoll and Nate Herbig played," the coach said. "I won’t get into grades very often here, but as we grade guys, it’s really, ‘Did he play good, did he play OK or did he play bad?’ And we thought that both of those guys played good games, so they graded out high for us.”
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
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