Eagles get good news on Johnson’s injury
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. − It doesn’t take much to sabotage a season.
For the Eagles, it could have happened on one play, an innocent enough second down from midfield early in the first quarter, when D’Andre Swift ran up the middle to his right and gained two yards.
On the play, however, a crush of players fell on the back of right tackle Lane Johnson’s legs. And just like that, everything changed.
Johnson lay on the ground until he was helped to his feet. Then he gingerly walked to the sideline, and then to the locker room.
Johnson didn’t return, and the Eagles fell apart soon after, going scoreless over the final 2 1/2 quarters in their 2014 loss to the Aaron Rodgers-less New York Jets on Sunday. During that time, the Eagles were outscored 17-0.
On Monday, the NFL Network reported that Johnson suffered a lateral ankle sprain, which is not considered a longterm injury, although his status would seem to be in doubt for next Sunday night, when the Eagles face the Miami Dolphins.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni
“We’re really early” in the evaluation process for Johnson, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I got to see Lane (Monday), I got to talk to Lane (Monday). His status is to be announced. We’ll see how it goes.
“Make no mistake about it. When you lose a guy like Lane, he’s just one of the better players in the NFL, and it’s going to affect things.”
Still, you can look at the debacle against the Jets as just one game. And perhaps this is the wakeup call the Eagles needed, as wide receiver A.J. Brown said: “It’s OK to have a little frustration because sometimes you need that to light a fire under everybody’s (butt).”
Consider the fire lit, throughout the entire franchise. That’s because there’s no replacing Johnson, who hasn’t allowed a sack since the 2020 season, whether it was an in-house replacement like Jack Driscoll or perhaps someone acquired in a trade.
Driscoll allowed a sack, and he was also beat on a play in which Jets linebacker Jermaine Johnson hit Hurts’ arm as he threw, which led to Hurts’ second of three interceptions.
Sirianni said that was “100% on me,” without elaborating. But clearly, Driscoll didn’t have the help he needed on that play call.
“Lane’s a big part of why we’re so successful,” center Jason Kelce said. “He’s a guy who can survive out there. Whenever you have a tackle out there that you feel very confident in blocking the edge, it expands what you can do offensively.”
The Eagles couldn’t do nearly as much without Johnson. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was constantly under siege without Johnson. Hurts threw for 280 yards. The last interception, to the Jets’ Tony Adams, at the 2-minute warning in the fourth quarter, led to New York’s game-winning touchdown.
“We did a couple more things where we were protecting the edge, which helps you get one less (receiver) out (on a pass play) in those cases,” Sirianni said. “I wouldn’t say we did it an abnormal amount of times ... but you have to adjust your game plan based off what’s going on in the game.”
And that makes the Eagles less dangerous on offense. And that makes Hurts less dangerous as a passer and runner. And the reverberations are felt throughout the offense.
After all, there’s a reason why the Eagles are 84-48-1 in games in which Johnson has played. They’re 13-22 when he doesn’t play.
The Eagles could withstand injuries to plenty of key players. And on Sunday, they did withstand them, especially on defense. By the end of the game, James Bradberry was the only one of five defensive backs on the field who started Week 1.
And yet, the Jets didn’t score a single touchdown on a sustained offensive drive.
No, Johnson’s injury didn’t cause DeVonta Smith to drop two passes, the second of which, in the third quarter on a deep slant, came when he was wide open at about the Jets’ 25-yard line and probably would have scored.
Instead, the Eagles punted.
When asked if he took his eye off the ball, Smith replied: “I just (expletive) dropped them. I gotta be better ... Ain’t nothing to learn. Catch the damn ball.”
And Johnson’s absence didn’t cause Jake Elliott to miss a 37-yard field goal with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter. It was the first time that Elliott missed from inside the 50 this season. Had he converted, the Eagles would have led by five points.
In that scenario, Hurts’ final interception would never have happened.
That’s because facing a 3rd-and-9 from the 37 with 2 minutes left, the Eagles would have run the ball, taking the chance that Jets quarterback Zach Wilson could not lead the Jets 80 or so yards in a little more than a minute for the game-winning touchdown.
Instead, Hurts stepped to his left, and actually had a clean pocket. But Hurts inexplicably threw off his back foot into double coverage towards Dallas Goedert at the first-down marker. Adams stepped in front of Goedert and picked off the pass.
Soon after, the Eagles were finished. “I had an opportunity and I didn’t do my job,” Hurts said. “I don’t think I made the correct read on it, but it happens ... I think it’s just a matter of how we respond.
“It starts with me. I lead that charge ... These things and these moments build a ton of character. The great ones turn negative into positive situations. Great teams do that as well. This is an opportunity for us to do that.”
That begins next Sunday with the high-scoring Dolphins, followed two weeks later by the Dallas Cowboys, then the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Cowboys again.
The Eagles won’t face another sub.500 team until the Giants on Christmas.
“You look at this game, and you have so many missed opportunities and really so many mistakes,” Hurts said. “It’s as if you’re kind of giving it away.”
That’s not only true for the game, but maybe for the season.
Injury updates on Jalen Carter, Darius Slay, others
Sirianni wouldn’t say if two key players who missed the game Sunday in defensive tackle Jalen Carter (ankle) and cornerback Darius Slay (knee) would have a chance to return against the Dolphins. In addition, Sirianni said it was too soon to update the status on players injured Sunday, primarily safety Reed Blankenship (ribs) and cornerbacks Bradley Roby (shoulder) and Eli Ricks (knee).
The Eagles return to practice
Wednesday.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.