Lane Johnson returned to Eagles training camp practice on Friday after he missed the last four sessions with an excused absence that was not injury-related.
Johnson, the six-time Pro Bowl, two-time All-Pro right tackle, was a limited participant in his first practice back from roughly a weeklong hiatus. He participated in individual drills to start the day, then observed from the side during team drills, as the Eagles are gradually progressing his workload.
The team has not disclosed the specific reason for Johnson’s absence.
Before practice, Nick Sirianni expressed a sense of confidence in the 36-year-old Johnson as he returns to an Eagles team that is in the process of learning a new offense orchestrated by Sean Mannion.
“Lane can pick things up very fast,” the Eagles head coach said. “Phenomenal football player. I’m not concerned there. You get to see a little portion of each day out at practice. But there’s 12 more hours of the day where they’re in walkthroughs, they’re in meetings, and things like that, so there’s so much more going on than some of the things you guys get to see here.”
Even though Johnson did not participate in team drills, his teammates still felt — and appreciated — his presence.
“He has a calming presence,” Jordan Davis said. “When I see him, I’m like, ‘All right, this is Lane.’ And one day, I’m not going to be able to say that I have him in the locker room. It’s just very good to have him out here. And everybody knows he’s a baller, man. He’s a f— baller. Lane, man, he’s a cornerstone, bro.”
The Eagles have been forced to replace their cornerstone at right tackle in team drills over the past week. On Friday, third-round rookie Markel Bell commanded those snaps with the starting offense. Bell, who is the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-9, 346 pounds, is relatively new to the position, as he primarily played at left tackle through two seasons of junior college and two seasons at Miami.
“I think what you see with Markel is just his length and how big he is and how hard he is to get around in the pass rush,” Sirianni said. “Just working on getting on the same page with the combination blocks. There’s so many things that go on there with the offensive line of having to work in tandem.
“I’ve seen progression there, and that’s what you want with all your players.”
Davis growing as a pass rusher
Speaking of progression, the Eagles are looking for Davis to continue to evolve his pass-rush game as he enters Year 5.
He has made gradual improvement, which Vic Fangio said dates back to the end of the 2024 season. Around that time, the 6-6, 336-pound Davis improved his conditioning, allowing him to move better on the field.
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“He needs to be 6-6 when it’s to his advantage, and he needs to bend his knees and be 6-3 when he needs to be,” Fangio said on Wednesday. “When you’re in better shape, weighing less, that’s easier to do and you can do it for a longer time. That’s what’s made his game take off.”
Davis flashed his progress in practice on Friday, bolting into the backfield in 11-on-11s for a would-be sack of Jalen Hurts. More sacks could be in store for Davis in 2026. When the season begins, he will have the opportunity to build on his career-high 4½ sacks from last season.
Davis likely couldn’t have fathomed that total during his rookie season, as the run-stuffing defensive tackle didn’t notch a sack all year.
“Even when we watch our old film from Year 1, Year 2, it’s a crazy experience just to see how far I came,” Davis said. “But I think the beautiful part about this game is that we still have so much further to go. We just keep working at it.
“I always say Rome isn’t built in a day. You have to keep working at it, and Rome is an empire [that] lasted for a very long time. So we just got to keep building that so it can be sustainable and still be long-lasting.”
Davis has learned that the low man often wins in the trenches. He credited defensive line coach Clint Hurtt with helping him feel at ease in uncomfortable positions by running drills that utilize a lineman chute, which enforces the importance of keeping a low pad level.
“When you’re a pass rusher, you always want to be low,” Davis said. “You want to keep your center of gravity low … And I also notice it now when I’m driving and I’m bull rushing. I’m not bull rushing up high. I’m bull rushing more low.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m about to tilt over, bro. And [when] I feel like I’m about to tilt over, I know I’m at the perfect height.”
The Eagles are grinding their way through the second week of training camp. Some parts of the team have looked good, others remain very much a work in progress. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg assess quarterback Jalen Hurts’ play, how some of his targets are faring, and why, regardless of how the offense is coming together, the defense could be elite enough to help the Eagles contend for another title. Listen here.
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