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Emergency ITB: Legend OT Lane Johnson Abruptly Retires – Where Do The Eagles Go From Here? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to a special emergency edition of Inside
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the Birds. I'm Jeff Mosher. That's Adam Kaplan. We usually
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: wait till the middle of the week to go through
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: all the injuries and big news, but we could not
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: wait to have this discussion. Lane Johnson, a legend. right
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the best players,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: regardless of position in the history of the organization, suddenly
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: decided on Tuesday that he will retire. And the news
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: came at about four o'clock. He put it out on
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: social media, Adam. And I have a lot of different
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: thoughts that are going to go in a couple of
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: places on this. But for just for because you and
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: I have covered Lane for a while, we've gotten to
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: know him a little bit, talked about his family issues
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and things, his personal life. We know he's battled mental health,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: he's been very an advocate of that. We just wish
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: him the best, hope for the best. What I'll say is, unfortunately,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: in a moment, for a player like Lane, you want
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that last snap, that last game, to be able to
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: celebrate him for what he's done, for everything he's contributed,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: for the person that he's been for the franchise, and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: unfortunately for Lane and the organization and the fan base,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: it can't be like that. It won't be like that.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they say the game sometimes retires you. Well, no,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: he decided to do it. Now, yeah, obviously he's, whether
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: it's physical pain, whether it's off the field, whatever the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: case may be, we don't know, but he decided to
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: do it now. But I just, when the rumors started
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: circulating a couple hours ago, someone asked me, do you
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: think it's going to happen? I'm like, I said, knowing
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the way or what Lane's been through in his life
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: and his career, no, the timing sucks, but life takes
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: over sometimes. You got to do what's best for your
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: family and yourself. Yeah. Yeah. I choose to celebrate his career, man.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, I remember, that's why we're doing this show
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: really is what we remember and some of the cool things.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to go back to the 2013 Senior Bowl.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: And I see this guy's six foot six. And I
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: knew he would go in the first couple of rounds,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: but I didn't know how good he was. I had
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: just started my information gathering. It usually starts for me
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: at the Senior Bowl. That's where it always starts for me, actually.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: And he was kind of a legend in the scouting
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: community because he's just, he was a super freak athlete,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: former quarterback. Okay, great. And then I ran into his agent,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Kenny Sarnoff, and he showed me this video of Lane
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: dunking a basketball. I'm like, okay, that's interesting. Yeah. The
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: fake bear video. So crazy. Wrestling a bear is fake, but,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: and you know, I, since I, you know, I saw
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: the video and I was talking to his agent and
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: talk to some other people. I'm like, you know, wow,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: this guy could go in the first round. Little did
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I know we'd go fourth overall. And it's just, it's,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: it's like you, you know, you, You think you know stuff,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: and then when you talk to the right people, you go, no,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: this guy's unbelievable. And he's absolutely, in terms of performance,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: a Hall of Fame player. We're talking about since 2013,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: if he's not the best tackle, we're talking right or
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: left tackle, and he was drafted to be left tackle
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: to wind up taking over for Jason Peters. But he's
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: just this rare athlete that you draft once in a lifetime.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: And thank God Howie Roseman said, we're not drafting Deion Jordans.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: who Chip Kelly wanted. That's the real story.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I love, I was just about to walk because I
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: was there.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Chip wanted him so badly. In fact, they were
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: going to trade for Dion Jordan within a year or two.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Jordan had the off the field issues. Eagles were aware
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: of it. Dolphins knew they couldn't trade him in good faith,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: but that's how Chip was obsessed with Dion Jordan. But
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Howie was pretty resolute. Good for him. You just, you
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: never know how things are going to work out, but
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Lane is just, if you drew, if you drew up
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: a left tackle or right tackle, it doesn't matter. This
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: is the guy like you don't find guys like this
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: or that athletic. They say like a dancing barely Jonathan Ogden.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: The guys are just unbelievably lighten their feet on their feet.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Just remarkable. Some of the things you would see, you
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: just you can't believe someone someone can move like that.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: So those would be my first things that will come
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: to my mind going back to that senior ball and
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: everything that happened after that.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Let me tell you the irony of Lane Johnson being
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: one of the best Eagles players. One of the best
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Eagles offensive linemen is exactly what you said. He was
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: never supposed to be an Eagle. I was at radio
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: city music hall in New York city that night.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, I didn't know that. Really? Yeah.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I was there when he became, he didn't think he
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: was going to be an Eagle. Everybody in the world
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: thought that chip Kelly was going to take Dion Jordan
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: because chip Kelly came from Oregon. Dion Jordan was an Oregon.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: The Eagles needed a pass rusher. And not only that,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Two offensive linemen were already taken one and two when
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: the guy from the Chiefs, what was his name? Eric
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Fisher went first and Luke Jokel. Went second. And then really,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: if you go look at the 2013 draft, literally every
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: player after that, other than Lane Johnson, was almost a miss.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Almost 80% of them were bad picks. We won't go
• 5:00
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• 5:01
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• 5:04
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• 5:23
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• 5:27
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• 5:31
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• 5:34
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• 5:37
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• 6:45
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• 6:50
  Speaker 1: second irony is, to him being the best offensive lineman,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: one of them, if not the, in Eagles history is
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: that as you also mentioned, he wasn't an offensive lineman
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: for all of two years, right? He started out as
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: a quarterback at a D three school. He grew and
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: he liked to join. He ate himself into becoming a
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: tight end. And then he grew into becoming a defensive end.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And then at Texas he, He finally not Texas, Oklahoma.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry. He's from Texas, but he went to Oklahoma
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: and he became an offensive tackle. And so here's this
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: guy with only two years of tackle experience under his
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: belt getting picked. Fourth overall because the Miami Dolphins traded
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: ahead of the Eagles to get Deion Jordan at number
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: three overall.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Yes, I forgot that part.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: All the machinations for this were in place for this
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: to never happen. And then for him to never be
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: as good as he wound up being. And it's just
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: a great story. I'll remember that more so than how
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: it's coming again.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: That's great. I did not, of all the stories you've
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: told over the years, I did not hear that one.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: You are not joking how bad this first, the only
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: picks that made it, we're talking that became really good players. Okay. Yeah.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Lane at four. Okay. Then you'd have to, Sheldon Richardson
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: was a good player, not great player at 13 to the,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: to the jets. Yeah.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: By the way, I was like, you're already fast forward
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: to 13 because five through 12 are not good.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Star Lou to the lay was a nice player.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Nothing special. Yeah. It took me a couple of years.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: It was okay.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Eric Reed was pretty good. Number 18, not Lane's
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: level to the performer, but number 18 to the Niners. Right.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Justin Pugh from the Philly area. Serviceable player. Nice player.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Kyle Long had a lot of injuries. Chris Long's brother.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Nice player. Nothing special. Desmond Trufant was a good player.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: His career ended a little bit early, but nice player.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Nothing special. Yep. Xavier Rhodes, nice player. Okay. Now this
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: guy might make the Hall of Fame. He was a
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: phenomenal player. DeAndre Hopkins, D-Hop at 27. Ah, right.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: All the way at 27.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah. You're right. Cordero Patterson was severely overdrafted. Really good
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: special teams for Turner. What an awful first round, but
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Lane just an absolute superstar. And by the way, I
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: think Zach Gertz is still playing technically with the Eagles. Yep.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Went to the Eagles in the second round. Pretty darn
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: good first and second round picks, I should say. Right.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: So that is the situation. And as we move it
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: forward here, the unfortunate part, not only does Lane not
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: get to sort of be celebrated on his last snap,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: but this comes at the worst time. for the Eagles themselves,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: because this news just becomes part of a domino effect
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: or a ripple effect of everything that has gone wrong
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: over the last two weeks and how they pick up
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: the pieces and move forward now with what is definitely
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: going to be a third backup on the offensive line.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: You know, Drew Kendall's a backup playing center. You know,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Cam Juergens is playing left guard. That to me is
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: like a backup because it's not really a left guard.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: He's a center. And now, We'll have to see what
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: happens with Fred Johnson. Will he become medically available? Obviously,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Markel Bell was drafted to be a future right tackle.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: I would have to think if Fred's healthy, they would
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: want him starting for his experience. But it's a bad
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: spot for a team that's already having trouble with protection
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: and run blocking and everything.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: The bottom line is they have three line changes. They're
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: going to have technically a new right tackle. Kendall's the
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: center for now, and Juergens is the left guard for now,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: although he's got reported concussion-like symptoms. So Good point.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: I didn't even think about that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, there are definitely three. I mean, no matter what,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: there are three changes. I always look at the changes first.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: And Willie Lampkin, who would be the top backup, who
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I know the front office is very high on. But yeah,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: it's a tough deal, man. It's tough. But Lane is
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: truly one of a kind, man. Very thoughtful guy. Very,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: very caring. I'll be interested to see if he goes
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: into broadcast. You remember he started a podcast during COVID? Yeah.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Very interesting to see. I remember he was having a
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: little bit of an issue with Zoom trying to figure
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: it out. I'm very interested to see how he would do.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: You know, we'll see what he wants to do with
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: the rest of his life and career off the field. But, yeah,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: it's one of these things. And obviously he had Jeff
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Stoutland for almost all of his career. And that may
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: or may not have any reason for him retiring because
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: of the new coach. Cooper and the scheme change. You know,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Lane hopefully will have his time when he steps back.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Maybe in the next couple weeks have his own press
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: conference like Kelsey did. We'll see. Hopefully he will. Take
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: a step back. Wish him well. But it's a lot.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: And we didn't even mention all the injuries. Just a
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: massive amount of injuries he's had, particularly in recent years. Mm-hmm. Groin, ankle, knees.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: You mentioned everything. If you looked up his injury history,
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: you'd go, how did he last this long? 36, by
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: the way. Not 32 years old. He's 36. Yeah. So
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: he's had a phenomenal career. And we'll see what happens
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: with the Hall of Fame because of the PED stuff
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: over the years. It's a fact. But his career is
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: one that, if you look at Eagles history, you mentioned
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Stan Walters, by the way, took best tackles at Eagles history. Yep.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: I know there's some older people are listening. Come up
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: with your own list.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, it wouldn't be that big, right? Sizemore, Walters,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Jason Peters.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: Right, right, right. Lane's got to be the best one.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Am I wrong about this?
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can make the argument that Jason Peters
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: in his heyday.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: Oh, homegrown?
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't, you know. I'm not old
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: enough to have really watched some of those guys, but still,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's hard for me. I've never seen a
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: homegrown tackle play better than he has for this organization
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: in 20 some odd years.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, here's something I do remember reporting this at
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: the time. He really wanted to stay at right tackle.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Like that was part of the reason when Peter's got
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: healthy lane, let them know, Hey, I really liked the
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: right tackle. They were good with it.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: And it worked out and, It's a testament to him.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: And I know I'm sure you have a ton of stories.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: One of my favorite things is, one of my favorite
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: remembrances of talking to Lane was in the locker room
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: after he went against J.J.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Watt.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: I don't think it was Clowney. I'm pretty certain it
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: was Watt. And he was talking about the process of
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: preparing for him, dealing with it during the week and
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: the tape study and getting mentally ready. It was the
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: coolest thing. Because when people explain it to you, I
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: try to imagine As they're talking to you, okay, what
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: is that like? Hand usage, punch, arm extension, because Lane
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: is so long, and so is JJ. JJ was incredibly
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: athletic and strong. And I'm so glad, by the way,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: that he won a Super Bowl like that. In fact,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: he won two, 17 and 24, and was the three.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: So it's cool. That's another thing he carries with him.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: He's a Super Bowl champion. That's super cool.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: There's only three human beings walking the face of the
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: earth who have won two Super Bowl, both of the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Eagles Super Bowl rings, right? One on offense, one on defense,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: one on special teams. And now the only person left
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: that is still an active NFL player for the Eagles
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: is Jake Elliott. The other two were Brandon Graham and
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Lane Johnson. So it is truly starting to become an
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: end of an era because those guys are who you
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: think of when you think of those two Super Bowl
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: wins and what they were able to do. for the team.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: You know, Jake Elliott is certainly a big part of
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: the Superbowl lore, especially the first on the road to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the winning the first one.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: It's just crazy. Did not think, you know, we didn't
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: think in the organization clearly didn't expect at this point
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: in the season that this would happen. And that's, what's difficult.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: They have to move forward. They have to game plan.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I think no matter what, Adam, whether we've seen, we've
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: seen them win with Fred Johnson and, There were some
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: good things in the run game. I think Markel Bell did.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's a big man, massive people. No matter what,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: there is no question a defense has an advantage now
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: and will scheme differently knowing that a guy that they
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: could never beat one-on-one in pass protection is no longer
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: protecting Jalen Hurts. That's undeniable and unequivocal.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: I would, folks, you can go to YouTube and see it.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: I'm sure there's some All-22 out there. Watch Lane's feet.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Just watch him move like right. Tackles in general, not
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: just move like that. Just incredible. Maybe some of the
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: best feet in NFL history in terms of movement and
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: tackle position. Now, look, we, by the way, watch, if
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: you're watching today's Tuesday, watch our inside the tape show with,
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: with Grokosel, with Jeff and I, and we talked about
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Bell and you, he actually did a nice job overall.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Although I would tell, I could add this now. Cause
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: I just talked to this guy like late this morning.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Guy said he didn't necessarily agree with all what Greg said.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: He didn't see the tape, but I just talked to
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: someone from another team. His job was to watch the
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Eagles tape because that's one of his teams. He did
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: a nice job considering he's a rookie. He goes, if
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: he had been a seasoned veteran, it would be below average.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: He said there were some snaps. I think that's fair.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: But I was like, look, dude, he was done on
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: short notice. I mean, could we be real here? He goes, no,
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: because I hear you on that. But he goes, if
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: you're just evaluating for what it is, it's below average. Right.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: But he did a yeoman's job, and he's got ideal length.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: He's got to grow into his body. He still needs
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: to fill out correctly and continue to lose weight and
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: build his body up. Look, here's the thing. They have
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: finality with this. There's no more is Lane going to
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: play or not. No, he's definitely not. Cooper and Greg Austin,
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: the O-line coaches, they're going to get him ready. To me,
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I would not go back to Fred Johnson. I wouldn't. Really?
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Do you think the coaches will think that, though? They
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: think differently in terms of experience and pedigree and what
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: gives them the best chance to win on Sundays.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: This is a Howie discussion with Sirianni, Chris Cooper, Greg Austin, Mannion.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: It's a great question because you can't have them. I
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: know where you're going here because, guys, coaches worry about
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: their jobs. Front offices worry about development. There's a clash
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: sometimes in front offices. But I would stick with Bell.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: He was drafted to replace Johnson. That was their hope.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: That's absolutely why they did it.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. It wouldn't shock me. And I'll take
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: it a step further. I know you're going to disagree
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: with me on this, but I'm getting to a point
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: and a principle here. If you are trying to move
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: people again and get that run game going and you
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: want You're willing to sacrifice experience for girth and being
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: big and line of trenches, right? You start Markel Bell
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: and you start Michael Morris at left guard. Whether you
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: think he's completely ready or not.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I don't care. You can tell me.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: I know what you're going to tell me. I know it.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: I've thought about it. I want to move people. That
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: part of the job is not.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: No, because they're not moving people. You're right. That.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: That you're going to put a 340 pound guy at
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: left guard and a 300 and what 65 pound guy
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: at right tackle. I guarantee you, you'll move the ball better.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: You're going to now it's going to, you're going to
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: hurt and pass pro. He's going to get confused. Keep
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: it simple. Run inside, adjust your scheme to your personnel.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: You know what? You want to play Willie Lantz in there?
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Hang on.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Hang on.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Hang on. Go ahead. This is week 15 of the
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: round of the playoffs. Absolutely. What the hell do you
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: have to lose? No.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: I think the only way you get your run game
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: going is if you get big up front.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Here's the problem. It's not that they can't move them.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: They're huge. But it's the missed blocks. It's not being
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: ready mentally to know how you're doing it, where you're going.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: Taking the wrong step.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: He played at Georgia. This kid's not from Montgomery Community College.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: I hear you, but he was drafted in a specific
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: round because he's raw. He needs a lot of work.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: He is raw, but the run game is simple. You
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: can make the run game. You can go back to
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: inside zone and make it very simple.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: By the way, if Stout was here, I would do it. Okay.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: I'll meet you halfway because he is the magic man. Right.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: He waves his magic wand and got like, I'll give
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: you an example. Big V, as you were talking about this,
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: I thought about this. Remember how bad Big V was
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: against Washington in his first game? I think it was Washington. Yeah.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, very much so.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Just throw them in there.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Oh, Kerrigan was eating his lunch. Yeah.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Terrible. But you take your lumps and you be patient
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: and you don't waver. Once you make the decision, you
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: don't change.
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• 21:44
  Speaker 2: And if you have to help them, you don't do
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: what Andy Reid did with Winston Justice. And I know Andy,
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: he liked putting guys on an island. He didn't care.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: He's like, we're not going to help him. Well, it
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: was a mistake. But this situation is interesting. It's a
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: shame it happened now. Let's not forget, Lane left the
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: team for four days in training camp. Our understanding at
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: the time was he was reevaluating where he was at
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: with his career and everything.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Which I think we said, you know, like, fine, that's fine.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: But that was almost like a little bit of a
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: caution for what might lie ahead, you know, at the time.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Because when you leave a team, at the time, it
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: would have been different, like you said, if this was
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: last year, if it was Stoutland. Like, you could slide
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: right back in. But they were learning a new offense.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: It was new teammates.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: That was part of it.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, something left me. Yeah.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's what you just said. That's why I thought,
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: in fact, what I was told. Mm-hmm. Basically, he was
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: reevaluating everything, everything you just said. But I figure like
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: once he came back, there's just no way he would
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: retire unless there was something pushing him to. Again, we
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: don't know why he did it now. Like, well, hopefully
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: he'll talk about it in weeks. But we wish him
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: the best. Really love the guy, my time around him.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: And since you've covered the team a long time, I
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: know you were still a Comcast Sportsman then, correct? In 2013? Yeah. Uh, 2013. Yes.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: I was, I just started it. Uh, no, no, no.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: I was, yeah, I was at there. I was in
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: the middle of my.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: So you, as you were in the locker room all
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: the time. Yes. I don't want, you don't need to
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: do a list, but was he not one of the
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: most thoughtful guys to cover in terms of quotes and stuff?
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Very thoughtful, very open, very honest, you know, like in
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: a different way, like Runyon was one of the most
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: honest and forthcoming.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: People to brutal to brutal.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Almost couldn't write half of what Runyon said.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Lane was a little more buttoned up as far as
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: how he was going to say what he said, but always,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: always like willing to, if you had a question, like,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: like explain things.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Yes. We had no problem.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: He never treated the media. Like he was above them.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Just to really, I loved his, his kind of Texas
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: down home isms. You know, one time I remember we
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: were talking to him about when Jason Peters was getting
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: at the end and they're, they're talking about maybe moving
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Peters to guard. If you remember left guard and moving
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Lane Johnson to left tackle, there was some, scuttle on that,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: and we asked Lane about it, and Lane said, I'll
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: be like a herd of big buffalo on the left side,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: just stampeding in a real Texas Southern way. That's what
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: I'll remember about Lane. He was always, and everybody loved him.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: He was definitely a guy who, no matter who you
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: were in the Eagles locker room, where you came from,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: they all loved Lane. He didn't have enemies, man. He
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: was not a locker room divider.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: I heard from other agents that he was great at
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: supporting players who needed to hear some veteran support.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking as you were talking about some of the
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: things I heard, and then, well, to think of it
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: this way, think about it. Howie was majorly involved. Well,
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: he contributed to, I mean, Joe Banner telling me, he
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: absolutely contributed to the Peters trade. He didn't make the decision.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: He was the GM then. But he was the guy
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: who Howie saw him on tape, Jason Peters on tape.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Howie saw him on preseason tape running down the field
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: on special teams, which Howie's like, Who is this guy?
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: You know, he's a backup tight end at Arkansas, but
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: think about it. The Eagles have, these two guys will
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: go to the hall. Lane should go to the hall
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: of fame. Okay. Yeah. I mean, he doesn't, there's something wrong, but,
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: and Peter's absolutely a hall of famer. He's one of
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: the best left tackles NFL history. Lane, one of the
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: best right tackles NFL history. And, and, and I've always
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: said this about the Eagles. They're certainly not perfect to
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: ignore linebackers for, for decades, obviously cost them sometimes, but,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: Joe Banner and Jeffrey Lurie, when they studied the Niners
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: and why the Niners won, to understand you win in
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: the trenches, it may sound simple, but the majority of
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: the league has never gotten it. How he got it,
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: and that's why he became arguably the NFL's best GM.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: He learned it under Joe, specifically, because he was very
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: close to Joe at that time. How he took that
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: with him, and he's never gone away from that, to
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: his credit. Yeah, he butchered secondary sometimes corner specifically now
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: he's finally got it right in a big way but
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: he got the offensive line you could say what you
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: want and defensive line does anyone draft better no he
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: tackled in him.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: And by the way we never we neglected to mention
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: that Deion Jordan did not pan out he had a lot.
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: Of personal struggles on his own never made it yeah
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: yeah so it was almost a blessing in disguise that
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: The Miami did what it did to move up over
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: the Eagles and prevent Chip from taking him.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes. And they stood by their conviction with Lane
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: at four. It's too long ago. I don't remember who
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: else they would consider, if they would have considered anyone else.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: I'm sure they'd say, oh, no, it was always going
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: to be Lane. You know how teams react. But he
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: was the cornerstone. Lane was the cornerstone of their front,
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: their offensive line. I mean, they're just homegrown, developed, coached
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: by– I think Stout was his rookie year was his
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: offensive line coach. And Lane had to learn, as Trey
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Thomas told us when he worked with us, the catch
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: technique and the way that Stout taught linemen, which is
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: probably different from what he learned. But it's pretty special, man.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: Pretty special.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: For sure it is. All right. I think we've approached
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: it from as many angles as we can. And we'll
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: just have to see as the week progresses what decisions
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: the Eagles make to try to fill the void left
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: by Lane Johnson, a true, true, true, great, Eagles legend.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: And again, we wish him the best going forward. That's
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: going to do it for this emergency edition of Inside
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: the Birds. For Adam Kaplan, I'm Jeff Mosher. Thanks, of course,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: as always, for flying with us Inside the Birds.