December 26, 2022
The Eagles are hoping to have Lane Johnson back for the playoffs, but in the meantime, he's expected to be out for their remaining two games of the regular season.
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, testing revealed that Johnson has a torn tendon in his abdominal area after he went down and had to leave Saturday's loss to Dallas late in the fourth quarter.
Eagles’ are hopeful that four-time Pro Bowl OT Lane Johnson will return for the postseason, but he is not expected to play again this regular season due to what tests revealed was a torn tendon in the abdominal area, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 26, 2022
The Pro-Bowl right tackle was seen postgame walking around on his own power, but with a wrap around his waist and an injury concern that is now confirmed to be a major blow to the Eagles' offensive line.
"Still evaluating through everything," head coach Nick Sirianni said of Johnson and nickel corner Avonte Maddox (toe) during his media availability on Monday. "Probably think they'll miss a little bit of time, but we'll never put a timetable on anybody. It's early on in the process here too with these guys, so want to get more information back.
"Kind of looking that way but we'll see, and we'll see the severity and how long it will be."
Johnson, 32, has arguably been the NFL's best right tackle for the past several years and hasn't allowed a sack off his assignments since the 2020 season or a QB hit dating back to the middle of last season (via Pro Football Focus).
Ten years in, he has been as close of a lock as you can get when it comes to protecting the quarterback.
After he exited on Saturday, third-year lineman Jack Driscoll subbed in but pressure from Gardner Minshew's right grew greater, which was evident on the Eagles' final drive.
The @dallascowboys defense gets the 4th down stop! #PHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/Xck0uiaK1v
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2022
At 13-2, the Eagles need just one more win against either the Saints or the Giants over the next two weeks to clinch the NFC East, home-field advantage, and a first-round bye in the playoffs, which might prove critical now between injuries to Jalen Hurts (shoulder sprain), Maddox, and now an All-Pro caliber tackle in Johnson.
That said, the task at hand may have also gotten that much harder to pull off.
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