The Philadelphia Eagles starting right tackle, Lane Johnson, is facing a ten game suspension for failing the NFL’s PED test. Johnson admitted to taking a supplement, but claims the NFLPA approved the substance.
Johnson spoke to the media this morning defending his actions.
“I want to be clear that the NFLPA does not stand up for the players,” Johnson said. “They don’t check the supplements in the app (Johnson used the NFLPA phone app to approve supplement he was using), and then when you call them to ask why you tested positive for something they approved, it doesn’t matter.”
Johnson stands firm in his stance that he did everything he could to get approval on the product.
“Everything I’ve taken has been approved by the NFLPA app. That is what every player uses,” Johnson said. “If I send it into the trainer of your team, all they do is read the labels, they do not test the products because it cost a lot of money to test each individual product.”
Johnson was suspended once before for taking a banned substance. He took blame for his first suspension, but believes this one isn’t his fault whatsoever.
“The first time I was at fault,” Johnson said. “There is no worse feeling then having to go through this again. It’s something I desperately wanted to avoid. I learned my lesson. I feel like the players have no rights. I feel like the supplement industry is not regulated so you do not know what is in it. I know that’s hard to believe coming from second-time offender.”
The NFLPA made a statement regarding Johnson’s claims about getting the supplement approved by their app.
https://twitter.com/jeffskversky/status/764489971495493633
The Eagles signed Johnson to a six-year contract extension this offseason. The deal was worth up to $63 million, with $35.5 million guaranteed. If Johnson’s suspension is upheld after the appeal process, Johnson will have to return $25 million of his guaranteed contract to the Eagles.
Lane Johnson talked. He's not confident that his B sample will come back clean. Won't know til regular season is about to start a #Eagles
— Ed Kracz (@kracze) August 13, 2016
Johnson believes he will be suspended. The Eagles will be without their starting right tackle for 10 games. This doesn’t bode well for a struggling offensive line to lose their best player. Doug Pederson and company will have to work through this issue without Johnson for the first 10 games of the 2016 season.
