Eagles’ Doug Pederson still uncertain about Lane Johnson, Miles Sanders for Week 1
The Eagles go into Wednesday's practice with uncertainty at two starting offensive spots.
Both Lane Johnson and Miles Sanders are “day-to-day" going into Wednesday’s practice, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said.
When asked if Johnson would be ready to return for the Sept. 13 game against the Washington Football Team at FedEx Field, Pederson said Wednesday the All-Pro right tackle would do individual drills during practice but his game readiness was still undecided.
“Lane’s going to work today individually out at practice,” Pederson said. “He’s a guy that’s day-to-day. We’ll see where he’s at at the end of the week, but he’s doing well."
Johnson first popped up on the injury report with a lower-body injury on Aug. 23. He was listed as “day-to-day" and missed most of the second week of padded practices, doing individual drills but sidelined during team drills. Johnson would sometimes ride the stationary bike during those periods of practice.
The Eagles are already without two of their offensive-line starters with right guard Brandon Brooks and left tackle Andre Dillard having suffered significant injuries. Dillard’s biceps injury will sideline him for the season, while Brooks is dealing with the lengthy recovery of a torn Achilles in June. If Johnson can’t play, the team would be forced to entrust a player with little NFL experience in his place, whether it’s Matt Pryor, Jordan Mailata, or Jack Driscoll.
“Lane’s a valuable piece to our offensive line,” Pederson said. “But we have to prepare everybody if Lane’s not available, and we have to get our young guys ready to go.”
Sanders missed nearly all of training camp with a lower-body injury. The team characterized his injury, which was first announced on Aug. 19 after the first day of padded practices, as “week-to-week.”
Pederson said Sanders' status for the opener will be determined later in the week. He noted the possibility, even if Sanders is healthy, that he’ll need a lightened workload coming off such a long layoff.
“It goes back to even last year when he missed some time and we managed him to get him ready to play,” Pederson said. “I think that is a possibility. We’ll get him through this week and see how he does and see where he’s at on Sunday.”