Philadelphia Eagles RT Lane Johnson is done with the media
When the media walks into the Philadelphia Eagles locker room for quotes, they’re going to have to seek out someone other than Lane Johnson.
Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson is the best right tackle in football. Period. Now, that statement alone will cause controversy, but why should anyone shy away from any when it comes to the former fourth-overall selection of the 2013 NFL draft? We tend to like to talk about this guy.
We’ve discussed his two suspensions, the Eagles win-loss record both with and without him, and, of course, the fact that he was supposed to eventually take over for the great Jason Peters when he called it a career. Then, Peters was lost for the season, and we talked about the fact that Johnson remained at right tackle rather than moving over.
That’s not all. It gets better.
Philadelphia Eagles
When Week 16 of the NFL season rolled around, you guessed it, there was plenty to talk about at the right tackle position. Why? The Eagles were preparing for Nick Foles to make his second start of the 2017 season, and a guy who wasn’t as mobile as Carson Wentz was going to have to figure out what to do when pass protection broke down. It wasn’t a matter of if. It was a matter of when.
Even with a mobile Wentz, opposing defenses were able to get in the Eagles backfield and to the quarterback with some regularity. Then, in Week 16, there was something else to think about.
Monday Night Football proved to be very interesting as it relates to the big guy.
The Oakland Raiders would be visiting Lincoln Financial Field and bringing their all-star defensive end Khalil Mack with them. We all figured things would be okay if Mack hovered around the right side of the Eagles offensive line, but we also figured, if the Raiders decided to move him anywhere else, there may be trouble.
For some reason, the Raiders placed him in front of Johnson and never moved him once they realized he wasn’t having any success. Then it happened.
Did the media offend Johnson or something?
Following an ugly 19-10 win, the media, as they’re expected to do entered the Eagles locker room. Some of them, once they recognized Johnson, headed over in his direction.
This is what Johnson had to say.
"I think (the holding calls) was ticky-tacky (expletive). You can put that in the papers. Khalil Mack, didn’t sniff the quarterback all night. He’s supposed to be the best player in the league."
There was also the matter of a call or two that didn’t in Johnson’s favor.
To that he said this.
"It was (expletive). It was (expletive) from the get go. The defense won us the game. I don’t know if y’all watched the game, but the defense won it. I’m really proud of how the defense played; they won us the game. It wasn’t pretty. We have a lot of work to do, but other than that, I’m fine with a win…It was what it was. We just really weren’t able to get in a rhythm and we’ve been able to do that all year. I really don’t know what it was. The defense won the game for us; there were multiple turnovers. We’ll go back and look at the film, but it was sloppy."
We later found out that the Eagles star right tackle is refusing to talk to the media now. Who knows if that will last. The NFL can be nosy from time to time, and they tend to frown on attitudes like this one.
Next: Fletcher Cox still wants to play in Week 17
Maybe Johnson is somehow upset with the calls or his treatment (he isn’t targeted often but it’s possible). Maybe he just wants to focus on the Eagles upcoming playoff run (they haven’t won a playoff game since Johnson’s been here). Who knows. Whatever the case, the big guy’s had his ‘drop the microphone’ moment, and, according to him, he won’t be heard from for the remainder of 2017’s season.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens.