Eagles’ loss to the Jets exacts a heavy toll to an already banged-up team

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Eagles’ trip up the turnpike exacted a heavy toll.

Sunday’s 20-14 loss to the New York Jets was ugly in several ways — turnovers and untimely errors led to a fourth-quarter collapse as considerable favorites — but the injuries mounting just as the schedule takes a daunting turn may loom even larger than the first blemish on the Eagles’ record.

» READ MORE: Eagles suffer first loss of the season, as Jalen Hurts throws 3 INTs in the Jets’ stunning 20-14 win

The biggest loss came on the Eagles’ first drive of the game, when Lane Johnson went down after a scrum of players came crashing into the back of his legs. Johnson was ruled out with a right ankle injury shortly after the play and, according to The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, likely has a high ankle sprain. Johnson dealt with a multitude of injuries to his left ankle a few seasons ago that required multiple surgeries.

Reed Blankenship (ribs), Bradley Roby (shoulder) and Eli Ricks (knee) also suffered injuries and Dallas Goedert was sidelined at the end of the game after going to the medical tent.

Reserve offensive lineman Jack Driscoll came in for Johnson and struggled on several snaps.

Lining up next to fellow backup Sua Opeta, who is filling in for injured starter Cam Jurgens at right guard, Driscoll allowed a pivotal pressure to Jets’ edge rusher Jermaine Johnson in the third quarter. Johnson beat Driscoll upfield and then cut back before he could recover, breaking the pocket to hit Hurts’ arm and causing the quarterback’s second interception.

It was indicative of the Eagles’ general difficulties protecting Hurts on a Sunday in which the quarterback spiraled late. According to ESPN, Hurts was pressured on a season-high 40% of his dropbacks despite the Jets deploying their talented pass rush mostly with four-man rushes.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades for their loss to the Jets: Jalen Hurts finishes with a brutal fourth quarter

Pressures aside, the Eagles offensive framework had to shift some with Johnson out of the lineup. A major part of the Eagles offense during Johnson’s career has been the ability to leave both offensive tackles one-on-one in pass protection without any help. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said postgame they had to change course on some occasions to help Driscoll.

“We did a couple more things where we were protecting the edge,” Sirianni said. “You get one less [receiving option] out in those cases. I wouldn’t say we did it an abnormal amount of times, we did it sometimes, but that’s what you have to do. You have to adjust your game plan based on what’s going on in the game.”

Said center Jason Kelce: “Lane’s a big part of why we’re so successful. He’s a guy that can survive out there. Whenever you have a tackle in this league that you’re very confident with blocking the edge, it expands what you can offensively and makes you feel pretty comfortable. I’d have to go back and watch, I’m not saying anything about what it looked like without Lane until I watch the film, but obviously he’s a guy that we certainly appreciate when he’s out there.”

Both Sirianni and Kelce pointed out that Driscoll has experience starting in Johnson’s place and has played well doing so in the past. The 26-year-old has 16 starts in his four-year career, including three last season in which the Eagles went 2-1. Driscoll played two games at right tackle and played nearly two full games at left tackle in place of Jordan Mailata last year.

“We’ve got a lot of faith in Jack and the things that he can do,” Sirianni said. “We’ve won a lot of games here with Jack in the lineup.”

» READ MORE: Jason Kelce breaks the Eagles’ record for consecutive starts

Mailata added, “Jack’s a great player, he’s been in the league for a long time, we’ve been in these situations before. There’s nothing new to him. Just daily reminders that he’s been in this position that he’s the next man up and he’s a [darn] good tackle.”

As significant as Johnson’s potential absence is — the Eagles are 84-48-1 in games Johnson has played and 13-22 when he has missed games — they are even more depleted in the secondary through six games.

For part of Sunday evening, the Eagles had just one of their Week 1 starting defensive backs. With Avonte Maddox, Darius Slay, and Justin Evans already sidelined, the Eagles lost Blankenship for the game midway through the third quarter. The starting safety suffered a ribs injury after taking an illegal blindside block, leaving James Bradberry as the only original starter on the back end.

The team also lost its newly signed slot cornerback Roby to a shoulder injury and backup corner Ricks to a knee injury. For most of the fourth quarter, the Eagles had Mario Goodrich at slot cornerback and undrafted rookie corner Mekhi Garner filling in at safety.

Bradberry said he has never been a part of a game with so many moving parts in the secondary.

“It’s definitely challenging, but at the end of the day I feel like those guys deserve a lot of credit because they were able to step up to the plate and be ready when their name was called,” he said

The Eagles defense was up for the task, albeit against an up-and-down Jets offense led by Zach Wilson, but the challenges will only get greater over the next few weeks. The Eagles will play the three best teams in yard per play (Dolphins, Bills, 49ers) over the next six games, starting with Miami coming to Lincoln Financial Field next Sunday.