Emerging Eagles Defender Stresses Importance Of Toes

PHILADELPHIA – You might remember the children’s song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” from your younger days, or the recently co-opted version as a nationwide massage chain’s sales pitch.

Most of us moved on from the childhood ditty long ago but the importance of keeping the head, shoulders, and knees healthy should be obvious for any athlete.

Those pesky toes, however?

The foot may get plenty of love. Just ask Eagles’ linebacker Nakobe Dean, who is coming off a season limited to six games because of a pair of foot injuries, including a Lisfranc sprain that eventually required surgery.

The toes often get lost in the shuffle and that’s a mistake, something veteran All-Pro right Lane Johnson, 34, has expressed to second-year edge rusher Nolan Smith.

“I would say praise to Lane Johnson,” Smith, 23, said last week. “He taught me everything from getting my toes right to how I work and what I’m looking for in a tackle. Just different things like that.”

The always energetic Smith than used a reporter on hand to explain what seemed like an odd tangent.

“Look at her feet,” Smith said, pointing to a reporter at the NovaCare Complex. “They’re all scrunched up. That’s bad for your Achilles and toes and stuff. I didn’t know that until I got into the league.”

Most of us didn’t know that until taking to Johnson, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound potential future Hall of Fame player who has long advocated using toe spacers to better take care of what’s an afterthought to most.

“I put on toe spacers and make sure my knees and stuff are right,” Smith said. “When you all go home look at your feet. Your feet should look kind of like your fingers. Like you should be able to wiggle your toes and space them out.

“And I learned that from Lane.”

The 30th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Smith didn’t hit the ground running as a rookie. Ironically, it was a persistent shoulder problem that contributed to that result and an offseason cleanup procedure was performed to help with that issue.

Smith, though, acknowledged the speed of the game was his biggest adjustment.

“I’d say it was the speed of the game. Seeing too much and not seeing enough,” said Smith. “I just remember what BG [Brandon Graham] told me. See a little, see a lot. See too much and you don’t see nothing. That’s one thing I’m going to try to hone in on this year. Just focus on my keys, my line, my get off and the things I can control.”

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