TAMPA — Eagles star right tackle Lane Johnson traveled with the team to Florida but will not play against the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Johnson, 34, has officially been ruled out.
Johnson made some really strong progress this week but did not clear the NFL’s concussion protocol in time for their Week 4 game.
Without Johnson, the Eagles will likely start veteran Fred Johnson in his place. Big Fred did a good job filling in for the second half last week against the Saints. This will be his first start since the 2021 season.
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You probably already know how important Lane Johnson is to the Eagles’ success. Since the start of 2016, here’s their record with and without him:
With Lane Johnson: 73-38-1
Without Lane Johnson: 11-22
Here’s the full list of Eagles’ inactives for this game:
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OT Lane Johnson (concussion)
WR A.J. Brown (hamstring)
WR DeVonta Smith (concussion)
LB Devin White (personal)
QB Tanner McKee
OG Trevor Keegan
DL Byron Young
A.J. Brown (hamstring), DeVonta Smith (concussion) and Devin White (personal) were ruled out before entering Sunday.
That means the Eagles will be without their starting right tackle and top two receivers — three of the most important pieces of the team.
Without Brown and Smith, the Eagles elevated veteran receivers Parris Campbell and John Ross from the practice squad for this game. Both will be active and will join Jahan Dotson and Johnny Wilson as the four receivers up against the Buccaneers.
White has been inactive as a healthy scratch for the first three weeks of the season. He expected to be the starting middle linebacker but lost the job to Nakobe Dean in training camp and since he doesn’t play special teams, White hasn’t even dressed for a game this year. It’s worth monitoring that situation going forward.
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