Eagles starting right tackle Lane Johnson is expected to try to play today against the Washington Football Team, according to a report from NFL Insider Mike Garafolo. Johnson is officially listed as questionable after being limited in practice because of an ankle that he quietly had surgically repaired back in August.
With Brandon Brooks done for the season (or most of it, at the very least) to an Achilles injury, Andre Dillard out for the year with a biceps injury, and Jason Peters kicking back out to left tackle, the Eagles can’t really afford any more injuries to their offensive line. Even if Johnson isn’t 100%, he is likely to fare better against Chase Young, Ryan Kerrigan, and/or Montez Sweat than Matt Pryor or Jack Driscoll would.
The Eagles are already going to be without starting running back Miles Sanders and starting defensive end Derek Barnett in Week 1. Boston Scott and Corey Clement are expected to share the workload in the backfield, while Josh Sweat, Vinny Curry, and possibly Genard Avery or Casey Toohill will see additional time at defensive end with Barnett out.
Rookie wide receiver and first-round pick Jalen Reagor is expected to play despite injuring his shoulder in practice just two weeks ago. That’s a pretty remarkable turnaround for the young wideout, but it isn’t clear if he is going to see a full workload.
NFL teams release their official list of inactive players 90 minutes before kickoff. For the Eagles, we already know that Alshon Jeffery, Derek Barnett, Javon Hargrave, and Miles Sanders will be out. With gameday rosters expanding to 55 total (48 active) for the 2020 season, that means three more players will need to be inactive.
The most likely candidates to be inactive for Week 1 are Casey Tohill (or Genard Avery), K’Von Wallace, and either Richard Rogers or Shaun Bradley. Making Rogers inactive would leave the Eagles with only two active tight ends, but they have rolled the dice (and lost) with that gamble in the past.
Defensive tackle T.Y. McGill and offensive guard Sua Opeta were called up from the practice squad on Saturday and will both be active.
