Eagles Get Good News About Lane Johnson, Injury Not Considered Serious
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 15: Lane Johnson #65 of the Philadelphia Eagles leaves the game after suffering an injury during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on October 15, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Even worse than the loss the Eagles took on Sunday, was the injury to Lane Johnson. He left early in the game, and never returned. And with how important Lane is to the Eagles, many feared the worst. But we got good news the day after. Adam Schefter went onto The Pat McAfee Show, and reported that Lane Johnson has an ankle sprain, and it is not seen as a serious injury. Ian Rapoport later added that it is a Lateral Ankle Sprain.
It is huge news for the Eagles, who historically are not a good team when Lane Johnson sits out. They are 13-22 in games without Lane Johnson since they drafted him. Meanwhile when he plays, they are 84-48-1. And the difference without him was clear in the loss to the Jets. Jack Driscoll was getting beaten in both the run and pass game. He gave up 8 pressures, and multiple sacks after replacing Lane. And the Eagles got shutout in the 2nd half.
There is even a chance he could play on Sunday vs the Dolphins. We have seen Lane play through injuries far worse in the past. In the playoffs he battled through a torn abductor and still played at a high level. But that was the playoffs, and he did miss several regular season games with the injury. It may be better to let the injury fully heal, and not make it worse than it is. But with it being a tough matchup, he could try to battle through it.
We will know more about the plan as the week goes on. But for now, it seems they avoided disaster. At worst he misses a couple weeks. If it had been the dreaded high ankle sprain, it likely would have meant a trip to an IR, and missing more than the minimum 4 weeks. As it stands he should be back soon, if not Sunday.
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5 Numbers That Tell The Story of The Eagles First Loss This Season
Well, it had to come at some point. After playing with fire for most of this season, the Eagles finally lost. And losses don’t get much uglier than that. After leading the entire game, they blew it to the Jets in the final minutes of the game, to lose by a final score of 20-14. It ends their undefeated season and wastes a chance to take the reins of the NFC after the 49ers’ loss
It was a game of endless mistakes by the Eagles. Turnovers, drops, missed chances. They did everything in their power to let the Jets stay in the game. And finally, after the two-minute warning, one final turnover let the Jets take the lead, and eventually the game. They are still at the top of the NFC East and tied at the top of the NFC. But it was a missed opportunity, and there were some very troubling signs.
To make it worse, there were a ton of injuries. Lane Johnson hurt his ankle in the first half. Eli Ricks and Bradley Roby both left the game. A dirty hit knocked Reed Blankenship out of the game. And they already came into it missing Darius Slay, Jalen Carter, Marlon Tuipulotu, Sydney Brown, Justin Evans, Avonte Maddox, and Cam Jurgens. Some of them may be ready to play again next week. Others are out for extended time. Maddox is done for the year. But the injuries are stacking up. It’s an issue they did not have last year, but the good luck has clearly run out.
So what should we take from this game? Is it one bad loss, or a sign of things to come? Should this game have us panicking? Let’s take a deeper look at what went wrong.
Here are 5 numbers that tell the story of how the Eagles lost their first game of the season:
Tyrone Johnson is the host of “The Best Show Ever” on 97.5 The Fanatic. He has been with the station for the past 8 years. Before working at the Fanatic, Tyrone produced political radio, did financial reports, and was assistant chief engineer of another radio station. As a content creator for 97.5 The Fanatic, Tyrone writes articles on the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers.