Eagles Backup Ready To "Hold Down The Fort" Until Lane Johnson Is Healthy

This Philadelphia Eagles lineman is better at putting out fires than that bust of a draft pick 14 years ago, and he'll need to be with Lane Johnson's injury expected to send him to IR.

Sep 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Fred Johnson (74) blocks against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – That old Canadian fire-fighting, bust of an offensive lineman, Danny Watkins, would be proud of Fred Johnson for his ability to walk through a burning building and escape without being burnt to a crisp.

It’s why general manager Howie Roseman sent a seventh-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 24, because Johnson is good at putting out fires. There’s a five-alarm job raging right now with news that Lane Johnson is expected to land on injured reserve and miss four to six games due to a Lisfranc injury suffered in Sunday night’s 16-9 win over the Detroit Lions.

The report, from both NFL media and ESPN, wasn’t confirmed or denied by head coach Nick Sirianni during his Monday Zoom conference. All he said was, "We’ll see," adding that Johnson would do everything he could to get back as soon as he could, and more would be known as the week goes along.

It feels safe to say that Lane Johnson won’t be manning his right tackle post when the Eagles visit Dallas on Sunday (4:25 p.m.). Fred Johnson will be.

From One Johnson To Another Johnson

Oct 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson (65) against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Johnson has already taken over for Johnson the last two games when the maybe Hall of Famer left due to injury, and has had to slow down Green Bay’s Micah Parsons and Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson six days apart.

“I just can’t let Lane down,” said Fred. “I can’t make Lane feel like he’s the reason why we lost (because he got injured). So I gotta be my brother’s keeper. That’s just what I choose to do. I want Lane to heal up. I want Lane to come back ready to go. Until he comes back, I’m going to hold down the fort.”

Last year, Johnson was his brother Jordan Mailata’s keeper when he needed to step in for a four-game run when Mailata made a trip to IR. The Eagles went 4-0 in those games and Saquon Barkley’s run to 2,000 yards never hit a speed bump.

The Eagles haven’t had much success when Lane misses a game. They are 15-23 when he doesn’t start. That number has slowly been turning around over the last couple of years. Between November 2022 and November 2025, the Eagles are 3-2 when Johnson doesn’t start.

It’s the depth that may be affected now. Matt Pryor is probably elevated to top tackle backup. Still, maybe Fred stays healthy until Lane is ready to return and allows Eagles fans to breathe a little easier, knowing that a bonfire isn’t coming.

“I feel like last week with Micah and this week with Hutchinson, those top elite players, best in the business,” he said. “It’s the same (bleep) as last year – get me better, let me keep going, I still got room to improve. I still got room to grow. I’m not at my ceiling yet at all by any means. I’m truly showing that, and I will keep showing that in the coming games.”

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