Donovan McNabb calls out Lane Johnson’s post-game comments after Eagles’ loss
“Why we going to the media with that?" McNabb said. “Now it’s looking like a dysfunctional organization.”
Number Five will always love you, unless you’re an Eagles player dishing about the team’s behind-the-scenes problems to reporters.
Following the Eagles’ blowout loss to the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, Birds offensive lineman Lane Johnson owned up to his own contribution to the team’s poor performance, telling my colleague Les Bowen, “I’m going to take accountability for my mistakes, and move forward."
But Johnson also made an appearance on NBC10′s postgame show, where he suggested to John Clark and Mike Quick that some of the team’s struggles on the field might be attributed to a growing looseness during the week, when some of his teammates have been showing up late to meetings and practices.
“Really it’s gonna probably be a call-out session. Everybody will be held accountable,” Johnson said. "Little stuff that slides during the week, late to practice, late to meetings. Stuff will be held accountable for. I think that will maybe creep into the games”
Those comments rubbed Donovan McNabb the wrong way, and during his weekly spot on 97.5 The Fanatic Monday morning, the former Eagles quarterback ripped Johnson for going to the media instead of calling out his teammates behind closed doors.
“Why we going to the media with that?" McNabb asked. “Listen, if you going to have a call-out session, have a call-out session. You ain’t got to put that out in the media about people missing meeting or getting to practice late.”
“Now it’s looking like a dysfunctional organization,” McNabb added. “It looks like … there’s no structure there with Doug. And Doug is the same guy that took you to the Super Bowl … Now there’s going to be a firestorm and he’s got to sit there to answer that."
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There’s probably not a lot of love lost between McNabb and Johnson. After McNabb riled up Eagles fans during the offseason by criticizing quarterback Carson Wentz in comments he’s since walked back, Johnson called McNabb a snake and suggested he was jealous of Wentz’s popularity among Eagles fans.
On Monday, McNabb didn’t talk much about Wentz’s play against the Cowboys, other than to suggest it wasn’t entirely wide receiver Nelson Agholor’s fault the two didn’t connect on a deep pass in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t think it was a bad throw. I didn’t think it was a great throw,” McNabb said. "I just would’ve have liked to see a bit of effort out of Agholor. You know, just to dive for it or at least reach out and stumble at the end. It just looked like he threw his arms up and was like, ‘Nah, I’m not going to get that.' "