The Philadelphia Eagles fan base has been stressing all week about right tackle Lane Johnson playing in the NFC Wild Card game against the San Francisco 49ers.
All indications early were that he was going to play in the contest, no matter what, given his limited practice all week and his listing as questionable on the final injury report with that foot injury. Then, 24 hours before the game, all kinds of reports came out: Johnson was a game-time decision with some swelling on his foot, to the fact that he was actually going to play.
The official inactive list came out for the Eagles just an hour and a half before the Eagles faced the 49ers, with the bad news coming in: Johnson is out, first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter. Before the game, Johnson was not seen on the field; instead, Fred Johnson worked out with the first team at right tackle, the first sign of bad news.
Eagles going to have to do it again without Lane Johnson
Lane Johnson has not been on the field since the Detroit Lions game back in November, when he hurt his foot. For weeks, he's been teased about potentially coming back, but it hasn't happened.
While Eagles fans want to see Johnson back on the field, this is the safest move for Philly to make. With the 49ers so banged up with multiple starting defenders out, it's better to have Fred Johnson out there, who has played well of late, versus risking Lane Johnson out there to get hurt.
It does change the game plan a little bit, as the Eagles would like to run the ball to the left side of the line with Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson. The Eagles need to run more plays to the left to take pressure off Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen on the right side.
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While this is rough news, the Eagles fan base is hoping they have enough talent to still win the game with the season on the line.