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Football at Four: A Discussion On Lane Johnson's Retirement Decision · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: And Football at Four, powered by the Inside the Birds podcast.
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  Speaker 1: It is brought to you by the Fanatic Sportsbook at
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  Speaker 1: Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. And we have breaking
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  Speaker 1: news with the Philadelphia Eagles. Lane Johnson has announced he
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  Speaker 1: has retired from the Philadelphia Eagles. Lane Johnson has retired.
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  Speaker 1: He posted a long letter on his social media accounts.
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  Speaker 1: He says, Philadelphia. You truly are the city of brotherly love,
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  Speaker 1: the best fans, and the most prideful city in the
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  Speaker 1: entire world. I have given it all, my all, for
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  Speaker 1: 14 years, season after season, punishing my body to the
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  Speaker 1: max and tirelessly working my craft to not only live
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  Speaker 1: up to the legacy of the guys that came before me,
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  Speaker 1: but to set a new standard of success for the
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  Speaker 1: best franchise in all in sports. He goes on to
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  Speaker 1: say more, but right now, football at four. Jeff Mosher
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  Speaker 1: is here pinch-hitting for Adam today and some big-time breaking news,
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Mosher. As Lane Johnson, many people thought this was
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  Speaker 1: a possibility. He did not play before the season. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know how surprised we are that he does it
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  Speaker 1: at this moment, but Lane Johnson has retired.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, he has. He just announced it. It's an unfortunate
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  Speaker 2: end to an unbelievable career. And I say unfortunate in that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you hope he's doing well. I mean, he
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  Speaker 2: discussed things going on with his family. But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: when a great player, a player of his caliber, a
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  Speaker 2: player of his legacy retires... You just want it to
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  Speaker 2: end better. You know, you want to be able to
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  Speaker 2: celebrate it. Sort of, I know Brandon Graham unretired and all,
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  Speaker 2: but at least he got that Super Bowl and retired
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  Speaker 2: before he unretired. I mean, you want to be able
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  Speaker 2: to just acknowledge it and cheer the guy on and,
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  Speaker 2: you know, as a fan base, I'm sure, and see
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  Speaker 2: it through until his last breath. snap when you know
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  Speaker 2: that it's his last nap and you can give him
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  Speaker 2: the proper send off and everything. So, um, it's unfortunate
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  Speaker 2: on both sides that it sort of ends abruptly in
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  Speaker 2: the middle of a season. And there's so much going
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  Speaker 2: on with the Eagles right now, Mike, with, um, so
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  Speaker 2: many other things that it just becomes sort of the, uh,
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  Speaker 2: discussion point, like a snowball effect for things that are
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  Speaker 2: going wrong instead of everything that was great and amazing
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  Speaker 2: about this whole, you know, whole thing, potential left, uh,
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  Speaker 2: right tackle.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, there's so much to the history here, but,
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  Speaker 1: you know, this comes at a time where obviously Philadelphia
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  Speaker 1: is really struggling there. So that kind of tells you
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  Speaker 1: whatever Lane's going through physically or in his personal life,
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  Speaker 1: that he just feels like he can no longer play
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  Speaker 1: at the level and help this team out because this
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  Speaker 1: guy's been a true warrior for this team over the years. But,
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  Speaker 1: you know, his limitations physically, you know, have come into
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  Speaker 1: play the last couple of years.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's been through a lot of injuries. He's kept
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  Speaker 2: him off the field, and then he's had to fight back.
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  Speaker 2: I think, you know, I haven't had a private conversation
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  Speaker 2: with Lane Johnson about this. I used to back when
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  Speaker 2: I was in the locker room more just to be
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  Speaker 2: able to talk to him. But I think just knowing
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  Speaker 2: him for as long, I was there the day he
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  Speaker 2: was drafted, by the way. I was with him when
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  Speaker 2: he got drafted in New York City at Radio City
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  Speaker 2: Music Hall. Not with him when they called his name. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: he was in the back, but after he became an Eagle.
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  Speaker 2: So I've known him for a long time. kind of
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  Speaker 2: got a sense on who he is as a person,
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  Speaker 2: his character, and, you know, what he's all about. And
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  Speaker 2: I can only imagine that last year, fighting so hard
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  Speaker 2: to come back after already doing it in, like, 2022, right?
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  Speaker 2: When he had the adductor injury and missed the last
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  Speaker 2: few games and was able to just play it all
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  Speaker 2: the way up into the super bowl and.
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  Speaker 1: And all that.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, to, to have this, that last year
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  Speaker 2: happened to him with the Liz Frank and to be
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  Speaker 2: out and fighting to get back and fighting and testing
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  Speaker 2: it on the field until finally getting ruled out in
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  Speaker 2: that last game. Can't go. That had to take a
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  Speaker 2: major toll. I think that would take a major toll
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  Speaker 2: on anybody, but especially someone of his nature, a very
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  Speaker 2: proud tackle. And listen, that's not me taking liberties. You've
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  Speaker 2: heard him say that he has taken offense to some
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  Speaker 2: of the rankings out there that put other players over him,
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  Speaker 2: other tackles over him. He is a very, very proud player,
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  Speaker 2: and he should be. So I can only imagine that
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  Speaker 2: last year, getting that injury and not being able to
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  Speaker 2: come back, really, as you said earlier, I think it
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  Speaker 2: was at training camp, his first press conference. You know,
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  Speaker 2: that was really difficult for him.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff, you know, he obviously goes down as one of
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  Speaker 1: the greatest players in the history of this franchise, especially
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  Speaker 1: the accomplishments, all pros, two Super Bowls. Take a look
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  Speaker 1: at it. You mentioned it when he was drafted. There
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  Speaker 1: was many people that thought he was going to be
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  Speaker 1: the heir apparent at left tackle to Jason Peters, who
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  Speaker 1: kept kind of hanging on, and then he never ended up.
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  Speaker 2: Moving to the left side.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this was a rarity for a guy to
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  Speaker 1: be drafted that high in the draft and play right tackle,
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  Speaker 1: and they just kept him there throughout his career. You wonder,
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  Speaker 1: you know, like, had he ever thought about it, or
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  Speaker 1: did it get to the point where he was so
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  Speaker 1: good on that side that they just could not move him?
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  Speaker 2: Well... I mean, I remember there was talk about Jason
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  Speaker 2: Peters moving to left guard as it got a little
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  Speaker 2: later in his career. He was getting more banged up
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  Speaker 2: and then playing Lane at left tackle. And I remember
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  Speaker 2: Lane saying, when we asked him about that, could you
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  Speaker 2: imagine that? It would be like a big herd of
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  Speaker 2: buffalo stampeding on the left side. And that surely would be.
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  Speaker 2: But again, you know, then you would have had to
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  Speaker 2: have found the other tackle. And it wasn't going to
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  Speaker 2: be Andre Dillard that tried and failed Dillard. with him
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  Speaker 2: and it just kept making sense. And the league itself
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  Speaker 2: grew like to the point where your edges, edge defenders
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  Speaker 2: on the, on across right tackle, left tackle, everybody's got
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  Speaker 2: two now, a lot of teams have three or four.
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  Speaker 2: So there's no more, not like it used to be
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  Speaker 2: in the eighties when the guy who lined up over
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  Speaker 2: left tackle was, you know, like the speed, I'm sorry, the, the, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: the speed guy, the guy who lined up over right
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  Speaker 2: tackle is the power guy. They're all athletes. They're all
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  Speaker 2: freaking nature's. you know, it doesn't matter whether you're protecting
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  Speaker 2: the front side or the blind side. You just need
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  Speaker 2: great offensive tackle play. And Lane was certainly great.
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  Speaker 1: Lee Johnson retires 14 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. Last week,
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  Speaker 1: he told the team the day of the morning of
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  Speaker 1: the game that he was not available to play today.
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  Speaker 1: He is telling them he will not play ever again
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  Speaker 1: for the Philadelphia Eagles. And obviously you're talking about a
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  Speaker 1: huge replacement here. And you hate to just start to
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  Speaker 1: say what's next, but, Does Fred Johnson go there? Do
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  Speaker 1: they like Markel Bell? The immediacy of, okay, he tells
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  Speaker 1: you on Tuesday, you've got to get ready to play
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  Speaker 1: on Sunday, and you're going to another country to do it.
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  Speaker 1: What's the next step for Philadelphia losing Lane Johnson now?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Fred Johnson is number one when healthy.
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  Speaker 2: He hasn't been healthy. That's why Markel Bell was in.
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  Speaker 2: It will be interesting to see if Fred's able to
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  Speaker 2: get onto the practice field and play. Ideally, you would
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  Speaker 2: like his experience there. He is a good enough right
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  Speaker 2: tackle where the Eagles have won games with him playing
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  Speaker 2: right tackle. And I would imagine that that is where
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  Speaker 2: they'll go if healthy. I mean, they may look at
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  Speaker 2: the tape from Markel Bell and say, oh, there's so
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  Speaker 2: much to build on. And, you know, we might get
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  Speaker 2: into a point in the season where, Mike, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if things are going really downhill and even Fred Johnson's
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  Speaker 2: warts are starting to come to the surface and you
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  Speaker 2: have to play him more because that's what happens when
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  Speaker 2: you play backups usually for a long time, then maybe
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  Speaker 2: they consider Markel Bell, um, you know, going to him
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  Speaker 2: and start looking toward the future. Um, Obviously, he could
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  Speaker 2: also get hurt and have to go back to Markel Bell.
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  Speaker 2: It'll be very interesting to hear what comes out of
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  Speaker 2: the coaching staff in the next few days about their
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  Speaker 2: plans there. I would imagine Fred Johnson went healthy, goes
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  Speaker 2: into that spot until they're more comfortable with Markel Bell's experience.
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  Speaker 2: But they did draft a kid in the third round
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  Speaker 2: to try to be Lane's successor. So they just didn't
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  Speaker 2: know that that time would be here and now.
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  Speaker 1: There was never really a player that I can think of, Jeff,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you can, where when he didn't play, the record
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  Speaker 1: was so talked about. as Lane Johnson, you know, when
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  Speaker 1: he was not in the lineup. It's almost like everybody
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  Speaker 1: in the city knew how bad they were when he
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  Speaker 1: did not play. You think that him not being a
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  Speaker 1: part of this team, that will be a repercussion, that
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  Speaker 1: they just will struggle on that offensive line, and that
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  Speaker 1: this season has that feel to it where it just
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  Speaker 1: never gets on track, and this is just another reason why.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, there's no question. There's no question. He's a...
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  Speaker 2: Top caliber player, you lose a top caliber player at
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  Speaker 2: that kind of position, it all starts with the offensive line.
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  Speaker 2: So to your point, you're making a great point. Some
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  Speaker 2: teams lose their starting quarterback, like the Bears, right? And
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  Speaker 2: they can still win games despite how important that quarterback
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  Speaker 2: position is. But you'll notice the Bears, their left tackle
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  Speaker 2: got hurt, but their best player is their right tackle,
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  Speaker 2: and he's been... He's great, and they've been able to
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  Speaker 2: run the ball really well and hide the fact they're
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  Speaker 2: on their backup quarterback. So in this case, there is
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  Speaker 2: no question that Lane Johnson, the drop-off between him and
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  Speaker 2: even Fred Johnson or anybody else is steep, and you're
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  Speaker 2: already dealing with an offensive line that has backups at
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  Speaker 2: center and left guard. So it's not only... Is there
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  Speaker 2: the ripple effect of that? But just losing a player
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  Speaker 2: who is just so consistent, his pass protection is so good,
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  Speaker 2: you will see teams try to attack the Eagles differently,
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  Speaker 2: maybe not even blitz as much, or blitz more, right,
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  Speaker 2: and leave you one-on-ones because they know that they can't
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  Speaker 2: get past the right tackle. Well, they know they can
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  Speaker 2: get past the right tackle now. So defensive coordinators will
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  Speaker 2: absolutely use that to their advantage on top of the
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  Speaker 2: fact that they've got a struggling left guard and a
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  Speaker 2: backup center in.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. Obviously, you know, we keep talking about.
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  Speaker 1: how can they move forward and improve this offensive line.
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  Speaker 1: This doesn't help. And obviously he did cite that his
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  Speaker 1: personal and family priorities have changed because I guess there
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  Speaker 1: was some thought that this could have possibly happened before
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  Speaker 1: the season he elects to play. And here we are
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  Speaker 1: four weeks in. your thoughts also on Juergen's self-reporting concussion symptoms.
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  Speaker 1: I would imagine he doesn't play in the game on
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  Speaker 1: Sunday either. I mean, you're going to have a line
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  Speaker 1: that is makeshift all over the place.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be bumpy, Mike. What's the expression that's
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  Speaker 2: going to get worse before it gets better, right?
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  Speaker 1: Listen, Moshe, and by the way, Jeff Moshe is with us,
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  Speaker 1: football at four, jumping in for Adam today. As quick-breaking
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  Speaker 1: news happens, you know, I did my Who's In, Who's
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  Speaker 1: Out segment in the 3 o'clock hour where I try
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  Speaker 1: to pick the 14 playoff teams. Right now, what are
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  Speaker 1: you in? I mean, and that's before– that was right
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  Speaker 1: before this news came out. I'm thinking, I just don't
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  Speaker 1: see this offensive line and this offense going to a–
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  Speaker 1: having enough consistency with the depth of this conference right now.
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  Speaker 2: Listen, I don't– it's hard. It's hard to rule anything
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  Speaker 2: out without knowing– a whole lot of things, you know,
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  Speaker 2: like I have no idea, maybe, maybe they'll get better
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  Speaker 2: than they expect play out of Fred Johnson, or maybe
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  Speaker 2: Markel Bell will get more run. And he's a huge,
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  Speaker 2: massive guy and he can move people. And the run
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  Speaker 2: game comes along. It's still a bad division. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I know that the giants are three and one and
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: other Cowboys are coming off an impressive win, but I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I can't, I learned this, like, back in 06, right?
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  Speaker 1: I get it. Hey, listen, when we do who's in,
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  Speaker 1: who's out, we laugh every week because it's like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the team's one game changes your perception sometimes so much,
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  Speaker 1: but it really, like, Atlanta plays well for the second
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  Speaker 1: straight week, and you start to feel good about them, and,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's like Dallas comes back, and now they're 2-2,
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  Speaker 1: and maybe their offenses, you know, got to a point,
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  Speaker 1: but Philadelphia's offense, and now you lose Lane Johnson, and
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  Speaker 1: as much as Juergens was struggling, now you need another
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  Speaker 1: left guard. Juergens returns. Do they plug him back in
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  Speaker 1: at left guard? Do they move him back to center?
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  Speaker 1: They're just a disaster up front, and this obviously is
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  Speaker 1: just another wrinkle that they're going to have to deal with.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Absolutely. Listen, this is a real, like, uppercut for
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  Speaker 2: the Eagles at a time which they were already against
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  Speaker 2: the ropes. There's no doubt about it. That's not Lane
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  Speaker 2: Johnson's fault. You know, I'm not saying that at all.
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  Speaker 2: I wish him the best. He's been a great human
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  Speaker 2: being and a great representative. But just your point is great, though, Jeff.
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  Speaker 1: Your point is great, though. The other guys in that
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  Speaker 1: locker room have to be like, man, And now we've
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  Speaker 1: lost Lane, and we're struggling, and the line's a mess,
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  Speaker 1: and now we've lost Lane. It's got to be a
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  Speaker 1: gut punch to everybody in there.
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  Speaker 2: For sure. Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm sure, and no one wants to speculate what
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  Speaker 1: he's going through, but they probably have some idea what
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  Speaker 1: he's going through, and they have to feel like for
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: him to step away, they probably feel painful for him
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  Speaker 1: that he had to come to this decision.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure. Like I said earlier, I'm sure they were
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  Speaker 2: hoping that this day would be a day where they
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: would celebrate... his retirement and it would be, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the last game of the year. And, you know, even
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  Speaker 2: if it's short of the super bowl, it's still a
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  Speaker 2: great career and you can clap for him and send
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  Speaker 2: him off and wish him the best and talk about
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  Speaker 2: all the things he persevered through in his life. And, uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, that would, there will be a time for that.
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  Speaker 2: He will certainly come back. It's just, like I said,
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  Speaker 2: it's just kind of gets buried right now under a
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  Speaker 2: lot of the issues that the Eagles are having instead
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  Speaker 2: of being celebrated as a great career.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Jeff Mosher, everybody from the Inside the Birds podcast.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure those guys will be talking plenty more about
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  Speaker 1: the career and the impact that Lane Johnson has made
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  Speaker 1: with the Philadelphia Eagles. By the way, he was drafted
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: by Chip Kelly, so he played for Kelly, Peterson, and
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni. So he has gone through three regimes of
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles coaches, and he will go down as possibly
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  Speaker 1: the greatest Eagle offensive lineman of all time. 14 seasons,
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  Speaker 1: multiple All-Pros, six Pro Bowls, two Super Bowls, for Lane Johnson.
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  Speaker 1: He announced his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles moments ago. Moshe,
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  Speaker 1: appreciate it, man.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Matt.
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  Speaker 1: Take care.
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  Speaker 2: Have a good one.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: All right, Jeff Mosher jumping in there on the Sports
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Bash to talk a little bit more about the retirement
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: of Lane Johnson.