Lane Johnson is as vital as ever to the Eagles, La Salle takes a step forward, and other thoughts ...

First and final thoughts …

It might sound ridiculous to say that, ever since his first snap in his first regular-season game for them in 2013, Lane Johnson has been the Eagles’ most important player. It’s not. It’s actually the furthest thing from a hot-take exaggeration.

Jason Kelce has always been more popular and personable, and there have been plenty of quarterbacks — Jalen Hurts, Carson Wentz, Nick Foles — whose exceptional play lifted the Eagles into Super Bowl contenders. But Johnson, on a week-in, week-out basis, has been the most accurate barometer for the team’s success or lack of it.

When Johnson is in the lineup and at his best, the Eagles are at theirs. When he’s not, they’re not even mediocre. They’ve lost 22 of the 36 regular-season games he has missed over his career. Any time any of the litany of injuries Johnson has suffered — to his groin, to his ankle, to his head, to his mental health — has taken its toll on him, the corresponding drop-off in the Eagles’ overall performance is immediate and obvious. Losing him would be especially crippling this season, given the team’s relative lack of depth along the offensive line.

“Hopefully, when I’m out there, it’s more like a morale boost,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday after the Eagles held their last training-camp practice. “Yeah, I’m a good player, but just the friendship and bond I have with my guys goes a long way. If [Jordan] Mailata or Landon [Dickerson] is not out there whenever I’m out there, I feel that. They mean that much to me.”

It’s more than a morale boost. At 34, Johnson remains one of the best right tackles in the NFL, if not the best, and based on his performance in camp, he hasn’t lost a step. Bryce Huff, the Eagles’ new edge rusher, for instance, has gone against Johnson in drills and scrimmages every day.

“For somebody that big, he has cornerback feet,” Huff said. “He’s such a well-rounded offensive tackle. He’s been dominating the league for a very long time. I’ve been learning a lot as far as how to set up different rushes, where to attack offensive linemen, a lot about hand placement. Even in the weight room and outside, he’s been teaching me a lot of things about how to stay strong.”

Johnson, who has been named to five Pro Bowls and two All-Pro first teams, would know. He believes he has “at least two or three more good years” left in his career and suggested that, like his friend and former teammate Jason Peters, he could play until he was 40. And he might be inclined to do that. He “grew up as an only child,” he said, “so this [team] is really the only brothers I’ve had.” Retiring would be a challenge, especially considering that the quality of his play is still so high.

“Just with my movement — you ask coaches, ask players. Physically, I can do it,” he said. “What weighs on my mind is, my kids are getting older. My dad’s getting older, had some health issues. So I’m thinking two or three more years, realistically. But we’ll see. It’s hard to step away from something that you love, that you’ve done for so long.”

» READ MORE: ‘Dramatic’ La Salle basketball renovation project is nearing its completion. Here’s a look inside.

For any La Salle alumnus (and I’m one), the look at the campus’ new basketball facility, the John Glaser Arena, that athletic director Ashwin Puri gave to The Inquirer recently has to be heartening. It’s heartening not because an updated, more modern arena will suddenly transform the program into one that competes for the Atlantic 10 championship and an NCAA Tournament berth every year, but because revitalizing the program gives the university an opportunity to rebuild a community around itself.

Whether La Salle’s leadership over the years wanted to acknowledge it or not, the school’s basketball tradition was a large part of its identity, maybe the largest part. Now, alumni will likely be more inclined to return to campus, to donate, to reengage with the university, to feel that they have a greater stake in the school’s survival and growth. None of those improvements to the school and its culture is guaranteed, but they are at least possible now. This was a chance that La Salle had to take.

» READ MORE: Take it from a La Salle alumnus who loves the place: It will take more than Fran Dunphy to save it | Mike Sielski

Just a reminder that there are 162 games in a Major League Baseball regular season, almost twice as many as there are in the NBA and NHL, almost 10 times more than there are in the NFL. Which means that “Eagle-fying” the Phillies — treating every single one of their games like the entire course of their season rides on its outcome — is silly. It leads to a loss of perspective and an absurd overreaction to minor developments. Like a manager’s decision to give two veteran players a day off.