In less than 24 hours, the Eagles’ offensive line succession plan was expedited for Markel Bell, Willie Lampkin
A new era has begun for the Eagles offensive line, and sooner than most would have anticipated.
Markel Bell knew the rest of the question before it was finished being asked.
Remember when you and Lane Johnson were walking off the field together...
“In New England, after the joint practice?” Bell asked.
The two Eagles tackles had just finished their on-field work for the day under the hot August Foxborough sun. They walked almost in unison, stride for stride. The guru and his pupil. Bell recalled Johnson talking to him about technique that day and also offering words of wisdom and inspiration. It was the succession plan in living color. A Hall of Famer in the beginning of his final season mentoring the 22-year-old rookie who was drafted to take his place.
But less than two months later, four games into the Eagles season, the plan has been expedited. Johnson on Tuesday announced his retirement, and Bell is in line to start at right tackle for the foreseeable future. The shuffling didn’t stop there. Less than 24 hours after Johnson’s retirement, the Eagles traded Cam Jurgens to Baltimore for draft picks. The offensive line has been drastically overhauled in a matter of weeks. Johnson and Jurgens are gone, Landon Dickerson is on injured reserve, Drew Kendall is playing center, Willie Lampkin is in line to likely replace Jurgens at guard, at least until Dickerson is healthy enough to play, and Bell is the next man up at right tackle.
“I just got to go out there and seize it,” Bell said Wednesday. “That’s all. I’m taking it head-on. I’m taking it full force. I just got to go out there and execute.”
» READ MORE: Why Lane Johnson called it a career four games into the 2026 season, and what's next for the Eagles
Bell made his first start in the team’s Week 4 loss on Sunday. He was thrown into the fire at the last minute when Johnson was a late scratch due to a personal matter that predated his surprise retirement. Bell, a third-round pick out of Miami, had some good moments but also some struggles. He was charged with a team-high six pressures allowed and three sacks. Preparing as the starter this week ahead of the Week 5 game vs. Jacksonville in London will be beneficial, Bell said.
The same goes for Lampkin, who was less candid about whether he was in line to start but said he is “ready to work, ready to play.” Dickerson, who has a knee injury, is eligible to come off injured reserve next week, but it’s unclear if he’ll be ready to play.
Put the two first-time starters next to each other and you’re looking at a unique size differential between two NFL offensive linemen. Bell is 6-foot-9 and 346 pounds while Lampkin, who spent last season with the Eagles on injured reserve, is 5-foot-11 and 290 pounds.
“He’s my big little brother,” Bell joked. “We got the same kind of drive. We just want it.”
The Eagles will try to push forward with a new-look offensive line that is not rife with experience at a time when poor line play has contributed to the offense’s slow start.
The sudden departures of Johnson and Jurgens make Jordan Mailata at 29 years old seem like a grizzled veteran compared to his current counterparts. Bell is 22, Lampkin is 24 and has never started, Kendall is 24 and seeing his first extended playing time, and right guard Tyler Steen is 26 and in just his second season as a starter.
“There’s a lot going on, but we’re staying focused, staying together,” Lampkin said.
There’s a message from Johnson they can lean on.
“One thing that Lane always said was you can’t make the game bigger than it is,” Bell said. “You got to go out there and play your best ball. If you go out there and mess up, let that be tomorrow’s problem and go out there and play the next play.”
Mailata had a message for Bell. He lived a similar experience when he took over for Jason Peters.
“He’s not filling anyone’s shoes,” Mailata said of Bell. “That’s the advice I gave myself when people asked the same thing about if I was going to fill in for JP. He’s got a tremendous task. I’m just calling it how it is. Lane Johnson is one of one.
“What I’ve told Markel is that he’s not here to fill anyone’s shoes. He’s here to make his own. He wears a different size shoe than Lane, too. He’s 6-foot-9.”
There were signs of what the previous 24 hours had wrought in the locker room at the Jefferson Health Training Complex on Wednesday afternoon. The starting offensive line has its own area near the end of the locker room. But in the center of the five-stall section was a locker stall without a name plate. Johnson’s stall, though, still had his name above it. A replica Lombardi Trophy was on a shelf, as were some of Johnson’s belongings, including a book: Things My Brother Used to Say, a children’s book about character written by Ryan Manion, the sister of Doylestown native Travis Manion, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2007.
» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata wish Lane Johnson well as they bid longtime teammate goodbye: ‘A lot to process’
Johnson maintained a close relationship with the Manion Foundation over the years and has supported mental health efforts for veterans.
Bell only spent a short time with Johnson, but he’ll remember the nonfootball stuff the same way he will the technique Johnson talked about when they walked down the hill in New England.
“He was definitely a big brother to me,” Bell said. “He always poured into me. He always was saying little tidbits on, not even just football, but how to get my body right and stay in the games because longevity is what keeps you in the league.
“It’s been a little emotional. As men we really don’t try to show much emotion, but it’s been a lot of emotion tied in because I feel like Lane was a big brother to me, and obviously Cam, he was our starting center, he got kicked out to left guard … and now he’s gone."
There was a lesson in that, too.
“I see it first hand. I see the NFL is a business and you just got to seize your opportunity,” Bell said. “That’s what’s driving me right now. I got to seize my opportunity and let the chips fall where they fall.”
Injury report and roster addition
Saquon Barkley (hamstring), Hollywood Brown (ankle), Jihaad Campbell (knee), Marcus Epps (groin), Jonathan Greenard (ankle), Drew Kendall (knee), and DeVonta Smith (hamstring) all were listed as nonparticipants for Wednesday’s practice.
Zack Baun (concussion), Dallas Goedert (knee), Fred Johnson (knee), and Quinyon Mitchell (knee), meanwhile, were limited.
The Eagles on Wednesday added running back Dameon Pierce to the active roster from the practice squad.
Different year, different offensive coordinator, yet still, it feels like Déjà vu all over again. The Eagles had little margin for error Sunday vs. the Rams because of injuries. They played hard despite being shorthanded, but in the end, couldn’t put the Rams away, mainly because of poor execution on offense. Why hasn’t Sean Mannion's scheme clicked? How culpable are head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts in the offensive rut the Eagles find themselves in? The Inquirer's Jeff McLane and David Murphy analyze the fallout from the 24-20 loss to L.A. Listen here.
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