Lane Johnson Hints Eagles have an Accountability Problem

Safety Malcolm Jenkins refuted that, but added if one exists, it is up to the coaching staff to remedy it

USA Today

In the aftermath of Sunday night’s loss in Dallas, Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson hinted that some of his teammates have been late to practice and/or meetings and they weren’t being held accountable.

“Really it’s gonna probably be a callout session,” Johnson told NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Everybody will be held accountable. Little stuff that slides during the week, late to practice, late to meetings. Stuff will be held accountable for. I think that will maybe creep into the games.”

Lane Johnson on next team meeting

“Really its gonna probably be a callout session. Everybody will be held accountable. Little stuff that slides during the week, late to practice, late to meetings. Stuff will be held accountable for. I think that will maybe creep into the games” pic.twitter.com/TveM5JCXC1

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 21, 2019

Safety Malcolm Jenkins went on sport talk radio 94WIP on Monday afternoon and disagreed with Johnson – sort of.

“I don’t really know where this narrative is coming from,” said Jenkins. “I don’t know exactly who is being referenced when they talk about this stuff. So, yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what Lane is talking about.”

Perhaps Johnson was talking solely about offensive line meetings and maybe one or two players show up late for those. He will no doubt be asked this week to clarify his comment.

Defensive end Brandon Graham said Monday evening on 94WIP that he believes Johnson should not have aired that publicly, an indication that, yes, players are showing up late at times.

“I think Lane should’ve just thought about it a little bit before he went and said it," said Graham.

The offensive line did not play its best game against the Cowboys. Though only notching three sacks, the Cowboys were draped all over quarterback Carson Wentz almost as quickly as the ball was snapped.

Johnson gave up a strip sack fumble to DeMarcus Lawrence deep in Eagles’ territory that led to the Cowboys second touchdown of the game within the first seven minutes of the first quarter.

Jenkins added that addressing that “lateness” situation, if it were happening, is the responsibility of the coaching staff.

“If that is happening, it’s not the responsibility of players (to fix),” said Jenkins.

Head coach Doug Pederson was asked Monday why talk of accountability following the previous week’s blowout loss to the Minnesota Vikings didn’t take root heading into Dallas.

“It's hard to really answer that question without saying this; that it starts with me, and I hold myself accountable,” said Pederson. “I have to do a better job, quite frankly, and I have to communicate that better to the team and make sure that we're doing the right things every single day, not just some of the time.”