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A lingering right shoulder injury has everyone fretting about Jalen Hurts’ long-term health. It’s a valid and justifiable concern for a team shooting for a Super Bowl championship. But, as All-Pro center Jason Kelce was quick to point out, the status of Lane Johnson might be the more worrisome injury.
Johnson is dealing with a torn tendon in his abdominal area that will require surgery. The starting right tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles has chosen to wait until the offseason to address the injury, but don’t think it won’t be affecting him when he (hopefully) returns for the postseason. Kelce discussed Johnson’s importance to the team during a recent appearance on Audacy’s SportsRadio 94WIP. He called the four-time Pro Bowler the “best pass-blocking right tackle” in football.
“I don’t think people realize how much we leave our tackles on an island and how hard of a job they have week in, week out,” Kelce told Angelo Cataldi & The Morning Team. “Lane Johnson is probably, if not the most respected tackle in the NFL, certainly one of them by the players that he goes against. You don’t have to worry about chipping, you don’t have to worry about lining up somebody to kind of slow down the start of the rush.”
Kelce continued: “All of these things impact the rest of the offense. This is a big loss. It hurt us a lot as a team before. I think we have good depth right now, but nobody is going to be Lane Johnson. I think it’s appropriately being made a big deal in the media and by everybody else.”
Jason Kelce Warns Teammates: ‘You Don’t Want to Point Fingers’
It appeared as if Darius Slay was pointing fingers at teammate Josiah Scott last week following a blown coverage on a crucial 3rd-and-30. Dallas Cowboys receiver T.Y. Hilton slipped by Slay and Scott was a few steps too slow in catching up to him. The result was a 52-yard completion from Dak Prescott that kept the drive alive and eventually resulted in the game-tying touchdown.
Kelce, speaking in general terms and not in direct reference to Slay’s comments, told Howard Eskin that nobody in the locker room is pointing fingers. They are extremely focused on correcting mistakes and learning from them.
“You don’t want to point fingers,” Kelce said. “You want to remain accountable. You need to correct mistakes. You need to highlight improvements. The same thing that we do every week, and I think right now we’re in a place where everybody’s very confident and comfortable with their role on the team, and with what we’ve been able to do so far, that makes coaching and correcting mistakes easier.”
Kelce went on to explain the team’s mindset heading into their Week 17 matchup against New Orleans. No one is panicking.
“Every week is a test and obviously an unfortunate outcome in Dallas last week,” Kelce said. “I think that we turned the ball over, a lot of mistakes that ended up costing us the game. I thought A.J. [Brown] had a great quote talking about the atmosphere of that game, and how that’s how these games are going to be down the stretch. And how they are more important, and how we’re playing really good teams, and all we can do now is just focus on the mistakes we had, come back and prepare for this one like it’s the biggest game of the year.”
Eagles Make Final Decision on C.J. Gardner-Johnson
The Eagles chose not to activate the 21-day practice window on starting safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson this week. The expectation is that will happen next week, allowing the NFL’s leader in interceptions to return versus the New York Giants. Expect Reed Blankenship and Marcus Epps to line up as the starting safeties this week against New Orleans, with Josiah Scott manning the nickel cornerback spot.
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