With Lane Johnson out, Eagles tackle Fred Johnson has a big challenge with Raiders’ Maxx Crosby

What stands out about Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby?

“That [expletive] is a freak,” Fred Johnson said Friday.

“Effort is one thing. Everyone should have effort at this level. But the talent matched with effort takes the person from a great player to a rare player. He’s a rare player.”

Crosby is a rare talent indeed. He’s one of the best edge defenders in the NFL. He also plays more than all of his counterparts, which means he puts extra stress on an offensive game plan that worries a lot about how to stop him.

Crosby plays 93% of the Raiders’ defensive snaps, and that’s actually down from his previous three seasons. For context, Jaelan Phillips is considered the Eagles’ workhorse edge rusher, and he played 80% of the snaps Monday against the Chargers.

Crosby, who has nine sacks and 43 pressures on the season, has played every defensive snap in six games this season. No other defensive lineman has one such game, according to Next Gen Stats. And because Crosby spends most of his time on the left side of the formation, Johnson is going to see a lot of him Sunday.

Johnson, the backup right tackle, is in line for his fourth consecutive start filling in for Lane Johnson, who remains sidelined with a Lisfranc injury in his left foot. The Eagles declined to put Lane Johnson on injured reserve after his injury, but he will still miss his fourth game Sunday vs. 2-11 Las Vegas.

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The Eagles may have briefly had to consider Plan C. Fred Johnson was nicked up near the start of Wednesday’s practice and was limited Thursday with an ankle injury he said has been bothering him for a couple of weeks.

The Eagles listed him as a full participant Friday, and he will play Sunday. If he were to miss action, it’s likely Matt Pryor would see time at right tackle, which didn’t go well for the Eagles in Week 3 vs. the Rams.

There are few players capable of filling in for Lane Johnsonwithout the offense missing a beat, and the Eagles’ three-game losing streak without him has dropped their record to 13-26 in games he doesn’t start since the beginning of 2016.

Fred Johnson, however, has performed well in relief. He struggled a bit against Dallas but rebounded with solid performances against Chicago and the Los Angeles Chargers.

“I feel like I’ve executed my job,” he said. “There’s a lot of things I want to do better. But I feel like I did what I came out here to do — execute, be ready for this team, be ready for my teammates, be accountable, and everything else like that."

Sunday will present a bigger challenge than he’s faced in recent weeks. Though the Raiders have just two wins, Crosby has the ability to wreck both the passing and running games, which right now hasn’t been very difficult for Eagles opponents during the team’s offensive slump.

The Eagles like to leave their tackles on islands, but they may have to give Fred Johnson some extra help on Sunday. Crosby is a versatile pass rusher, but he also leads all defensive linemen in run stops, according to Next Gen.

Fred said he talked to Lane this week about Crosby, and Lane said he would watch some extra film and report back with what he’s seeing. Fred said the the results of Lane’s studying were “classified.”

After Lane went down, Fred, who left in free agency to try to become a starter in Jacksonville, only to return via trade after training camp, said he was viewing this stretch of games as a chance to show what he can do in an effort to “to make a name for himself.”

No bigger chance than Sunday?

“Every chance is a big chance,” he said. “I just feel like it’s the next week and it’s the next opponent. He’s a great player in his own right, but I got to control what I can control and make sure I’m doing what I got to do, check my boxes, and go about it like that.”

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In addition to Lane Johnson, the Eagles also ruled out Jalen Carter, who is recovering from shoulder procedures. Rookie tackle Cameron Williams is listed as questionable, but he will likely be ruled out and remains on injured reserve during his 21-day practice window.

Landon Dickerson (calf/rest) returned to the field Friday after missing practice Thursday. He is good to go for Sunday.

The Eagles on Friday also activated long snapper Charley Hughlett from injured reserve. Their 53-man roster is now at the maximum after waiving snapper Cal Adomitis earlier in the week.