Eagles RT Lane Johnson suffered an injury in the Christmas Eve loss to the Cowboys. Ian Rapoport provides an update.
The Eagles fell short of the mark against the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve but perhaps the biggest takeaway from the game was the status of Lane Johnson. The prolific right tackle went down with an injury during the matchup, leaving many concerned about his status moving forward. Ian Rapoport reported today that there is at least some reassuring news for the Pro Bowler.
Lane Johnson to miss the remaining two games of the regular season
The bad news is that Lane Johnson will indeed miss the remainder of the regular season. The Eagles are currently 13-2 and have two games left on their schedule, one against the Cowboys, and one against the New York Giants. Their spot in the postseason is already secured and the Eagles will be hoping to have Johnson back for the playoffs, but there’s no guarantee he will be able to return.
The good news is that the Eagles will likely have a first-round bye, at least giving them some breathing space, and Johnson an extra week, to return from his abdominal injury. The other way to look at this is the fact that Johnson could be eyeing a postseason return at least shows that the injury isn’t severe enough to sideline him for a year, or for Training Camp/preseason next year. While frustrating, the main thing is that the Eagles will have Johnson back healthy in time for next season comfortably.
As for the immediate future, Jack Driscoll relieved Johnson of his duties for 11 snaps last week. He has a PFF grade of 60 up to this point and has played in 226 offensive snaps. The Eagles could certainly do a lot worse than the versatile backup, and this isn’t the first time that they would have gone into an offseason without a starting offensive lineman. Even in their Super Bowl run, we saw Halapoulivaati Vaitai take the reins at Left Tackle and they did just fine.
Losing Lane Johnson is huge, however. The Oklahoma product hasn’t surrendered a sack since week 11 of the 2020 season and has been a stalwart on this offensive front, helping Jalen Hurts and the Eagles to wreak havoc this season and break numerous records.
The main thing is that Johnson is okay and can recover from his injury relatively quickly. Here’s to hoping he can return in time for the playoffs.
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