Lane Johnson will miss the rest of the Eagles’ 2020 NFL season.
Philadelphia’s starting right tackle informed reporters about his injury status firsthand during a Friday morning video conference. Johnson specifically said: “the inside of my ankle collapsed.”
Yikes.
Johnson had been battling through an ankle injury that he had surgery on in late August. Johnson actually had to get his ankle drained (gross) at multiple points during the seaso. He also suffered knee and shoulder injuries.
Johnson deserves credit for toughing it out as much as he could but it’s good to see that the 30-year-old is finally being shut down for the season. Such a move obviously hurts the Eagles in the short-term but it’s in the team’s best long-term interest. Johnson can now focus on getting healthy for 2021 and beyond. He expects to have another surgery in the near future.
Johnson also said he expects Matt Pryor to take over at him for right tackle. Jack Driscoll has played in relief of Johnson but the rookie blocker is dealing with a knee injury that kept him listed as limited in Thursday’s practice. Perhaps we could see Driscoll playing at right tackle if/when he can get healthy.
The Eagles’ projected starting offensive line now looks like this with the team reportedly moving Jordan Mailata back into the starting lineup:
Left tackle — Jordan Mailata
Left guard — Isaac Seumalo
Center — Jason Kelce
Right guard — Jason Peters
Right tackle — Matt Pryor (?)
