Lane Johnson in a "Great Head Space," with Ankle Finally Healthy Again

The inability of the Eagles' RT to return as quickly as he had hoped from two surgeries left him wondering if he would play again, triggering his anxiety and depression last season

PHILADELPHIA – Nobody knew what Lane Johnson was going through at this time last year until one day he wasn’t around the team anymore.

Anxiety and depression enveloped him to the point he could no longer function the way he wanted. So, he went back to Oklahoma. He met with healthcare professionals to get things under control and, after missing three games, he returned. to play against the Raiders in Week 7.

It just so happened that when he did, the Eagles’ fortunes went up, as they always do when Johnson starts at right tackle, something he has done 112 times since joining the franchise as the fourth overall pick in 2013.

One of the triggers in Johnson’s downward spiral last season was his left ankle, which had been operated on twice in the months following the 2020 season.

“I feel a lot better,” said Johnson following Friday’s training camp practice. “A lot mentally on my mind last year was my ankle. I said this a few days ago, I was at the point where I didn't know if I can play anymore because I couldn’t push off my left foot. You’ll see from the tape from the beginning of last year, I couldn’t really run block the way I’m used to.”

For someone who has played football practically his entire life, that would naturally send someone like Johnson, who was diagnosed in 2008 with anxiety disorder, into a mental funk.

“They say sometimes it takes a year, year and a half for that to feel normal, but really it was just like I had one foot that I could propel on, the other one was just very tight,” he said. “It didn’t feel like I could run. Last season before training camp, I didn’t do any running. I couldn't run. I could hobble, I could get out of my stance, I could make do, but that was on my mind constantly.

“Last year it was all I was thinking about. I could feel it in every drill. It never felt the same. With injuries like that it takes a while to heal. It felt like when you get surgery it heals back very tight and takes a while to get that flexion back. That was really the gist of it.”

His ankle isn’t on his mind anymore.

He can focus on his job now, a job that includes getting used to a new right guard after his good friend Brandon Brooks retired earlier this year.

From the sound and look of it, the right guard will be Isaac Seumalo. He was there during individual drills, with Jason Kelce to his left at center and Landon Dickerson at left guard, and took plenty of first-team reps, with Sua Opeta also working in there at times.

Landon Dickerson (left), Jason Kelce, and Isaac Seumalo prepare to execute a drill during practice on July 20, 2022 :: Ed Kracz/SI Fan Nation Eagles Today

“I’ve played with him, I just haven’t had him on my side of the ball a whole lot, so he’s getting used to the right guard position, but every practice and every rep I feel like the continuity is going to grow and our chemistry is going to grow,” said Johnson, of Seumalo, who has played mostly left guard the past few seasons.

“Isaac’s played a lot of football around here and is really the only guy who’s played every position from left tackle to right tackle, so probably the most versatile athlete we have at the offensive line position."

The most important thing, however, is that Johnson is back to 100 percent physically and that should help his mental side.

“I feel a lot better,” he said. “…I feel a lot more comfortable and it’s not on my mind like it was last year where it took me midway through the season to kind of feel comfortable again playing.

"I’m in a great head space now and I feel a lot more comfortable and glad to be back.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.