Lane Johnson matters more to the Eagles’ Super Bowl hopes than anyone. After his third concussion, his health matters more.
He's the best right tackle in the NFL and may be the key to the Eagles offense. But no one should be placing any pressure on him to come back until he's fully ready.
Football has a way of putting priorities in conflict, and it did so again Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field, not long before halftime of the Eagles’ 26-17 victory over the Cowboys. Lane Johnson trudged off the field and into the locker room before his teammates, and soon enough, there was an announcement in the press box: Johnson had suffered a concussion, and he would not be returning to the game.
Not only did Johnson sit out the entire second half Sunday, but coach Nick Sirianni said Monday afternoon that he had no update on Johnson’s health or his possible availability for the Eagles’ next game, on Oct. 30 against the Steelers. This is no small matter, and this is the delicate balance that coaches and players and organizations — and, yes, fans, too — need to strike in the sport. It is well and good to say that all those people should take and do take brain trauma seriously. But when someone such as Johnson — the Eagles’ starting right tackle, one of their most important players, the “best [bleeping] tackle in the league,” according to the Eagles’ starting left tackle, Jordan Mailata — sustains such an injury and the timeline for his recovery is uncertain, that seriousness and sincerity are truly put to the test.
“We need Lane because Lane Johnson is the best at his position in the NFL — in the world,” Sirianni said. “If Lane’s healthy, we’ll play Lane.”
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If Lane’s healthy. Now that he is in the NFL’s concussion protocol, Johnson won’t be able to play again until he passes a five-stage evaluation, going from basic aerobic exercise to full-fledged football activities without displaying any post-concussion symptoms. It sounds clear-cut and lickety-split. But as the Tua Tagovailoa fiasco recently showed, the process is often anything but.
This is Johnson’s third reported concussion in the last five years; it’s possible he suffered others that went undetected. And despite that distressing medical history, he is sure to feel some pressure — whether overt or unspoken, whether from his coaches and teammates or the public — to get back to playing as soon as he can. For a pro athlete who has spoken openly, honestly, and bravely about his grappling with mental-health issues, that pressure will likely weigh heavier on him than it might on one of his peers.
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The easy thing to do is frame Johnson’s injury strictly in terms of its effect on the Eagles and their fortunes. Based just on the anecdotal evidence of Sunday’s game, its effect, not surprisingly, would seem profound. With Johnson in the game, the Eagles scored on their final four possessions of the first half and averaged more than 4½ yards per play. In the second half, with Jack Driscoll having replaced Johnson, they mustered just six points and 95 yards of total offense. Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who is tied for second in the league in sacks with six, had three quarterback pressures Sunday, all of them after Johnson had left.
“Lane is an irreplaceable guy,” center Jason Kelce said. “Especially with the edge players they have, to have a guy like Lane Johnson out there who’s — I don’t want to hype him up, but I don’t think we’re worried about him playing any edge defender, quite frankly. I think he’s been the best right tackle, certainly the best pass-blocking right tackle, in the league for some time. He’s starting to get the credit he’s been owed. That is a major advantage to go down in the middle of a game. … Definitely not ideal. He’s about as dominating as a physical player as there is in this league.”
No, not ideal. But in the cold and sometimes-cruel culture of the NFL, the Eagles can afford to give Johnson as much time as he needs, even if those most worried about the team’s win-loss record would like him back as soon as possible, even if those people would be happy if he came back earlier than he ought to. The Eagles are 6-0. They’re entering their bye week. They have as much or more talent and depth along the offensive line than any team in the league. Do those factors allow them to withstand his potential absence better than another team might if it lost one of its top linemen? Do those factors allow him to take his time to come back, to make sure he’s fully ready? They do. They should.
“Jack Driscoll gave us some really good minutes [Sunday], and we were confident in that,” Sirianni said late Sunday night. “So we talked about it a little bit, but we had a lot of confidence right there that we were going to be able to hold up, because Jack has done that in the past.”
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That’s the hope for the Eagles, and that’s the prudent, humane approach for handling this situation. There could be more at stake here for Lane Johnson than another Super Bowl ring, and the last thing the Eagles, anyone else, or even Johnson himself should be doing is worrying whether a collision in the closing seconds of Sunday’s first half has jeopardized a chance for a championship. If Lane’s healthy. You wait until he is, if he is, and not a second before.