FOR THE BIRDS
Expectations low for rebuilding Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Lane Johnson was talking about his impending NFL suspension, but the veteran offensive tackle very well could have been talking about the state of the Eagles as a whole.
“It’s a s----y situation,” Johnson told The Post on Wednesday. “It feels like I’m waiting around for my own execution.”
Johnson is feeling gloomy these days because the former first-round pick is going to be hit soon with a 10-game suspension for a second violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Though losing Johnson for that long likely will be a huge blow for Philadelphia, that also would be be just another bump in the road in what has been a rocky month for the Eagles.
If Philly was thought to be in rebuilding mode coming off a 7-9 season and with a new, thoroughly unproven coach in Doug Pederson, little that has happened in August to change that perception for the better.
Leading receiver Jordan Matthews got the bad-news train rolling when he suffered a bone bruise in his knee the first week of training camp that threatens his availability for the season opener against the Browns.
Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, whom the Eagles mortgaged their future to trade up for in the draft, couldn’t even make it through his preseason debut without suffering a fractured rib that has sidelined him indefinitely.
Matthews’ injury prompted Philly general manager Howie Roseman to trade for Titans washout Dorial Green-Beckham, and the Eagles’ re- ceiving corps is so unheralded that Pederson was left to note Wednesday that notorious Giants underachiever Rueben Randle is now “the veteran of the group.”
Seemingly the only thing lifting the spirits around the Eagles is the rest of the NFC East — won with a 9-7 record last year — again looks anything but dominant on paper.
“I understand [the low expectations],” tight end Zach Ertz said Wednesday, noting three of the Birds’ losses last season came by a total of six points. “We had a lot of opportunities to win games that we didn’t, and that’s caused a lot of people to doubt us.”
The Eagles certainly aren’t garnering any respect for the quarterback situation of short-term starter Sam Bradford, backup Chase Daniel (one career touchdown pass in six seasons) and the injured Wentz. Bradford was the only quarterback in the division that new Redskins cornerback Josh Norman dared to rip by name in an interview with ESPN The Magazine published this week. Norman mocked Bradford for briefly holding out last spring when the Eagles traded up to take Wentz with the No. 2 overall pick. “Have you ever once been one of the top 20 quarterbacks in the league?” Norman said of Bradford. “Not that I remember — and you want more money? I can’t wait to play him twice a year.” Opponents aren’t afraid to mock the Eagles because nearly three years of Chip Kelly followed by the head-scratching hire of Pederson and the return to power of Roseman seemingly took their toll on a once-talented roster. While LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson and DeMarco Murray play elsewhere after being jettisoned the past two years, the Eagles are left without an elite player at any offensive skill position and a defense that ranked third-worst in the NFL last season. The schedule also looms unkind, with five of Philadelphia’s first eight games coming on the road while two of the early home contests are against the Steelers and Vikings — 2015 playoff teams. “Last year, we were picked to win the Super Bowl by everyone and [finished 7-9],” Ertz said. “So it kind of goes both ways. You can doubt us if you want. I think guys would actually prefer that.”