Eagles Mysteriously Take Lane Johnson Off the Injury Report Then Put Him Back On Again

PFT – Lane Johnson has a high ankle sprain. He was limited in practice through Tuesday, and he fully participated on Wednesday. The Eagles did not give Johnson an injury designation when filing their final injury report on Wednesday.

Then came Thursday morning, and the Eagles suddenly decided to supplement the report by listing Johnson as questionable. Multiple reporters have characterized Johnson’s status as a toss up, with a very real possibility that he won’t play. …

Obviously, this is about more than whether the Giants had fair notice that Johnson won’t play. Betting is legal in multiple states. Bets were placed on Wednesday in reliance on the accuracy of the injury report. More importantly, some bettors may have known that Johnson was no sure thing to play, contrary to the clear message sent by the injury report.

Wait. What? Lane Johnson went from really injured with the always-very-serious dreaded high ankle sprain to so NOT injured that it wasn’t even worth mentioning his ankle (high or otherwise) just a day later to suddenly re-injured the morning of the game? And this is what? Newsworthy somehow?

Nope. Not at all.

It happens all the time that key players on championship teams go from super hurt to not hurt at all and then back again to wicked hurt all in the span of 48 hours. Or less. I mean, I can’t think of a single time. And I doubt anyone could. But in no way would I ever take it happening this particular time as … I don’t know … some sort of evidence the Eagles tried to cheat the injury report. The NFL’s injury report is more than important: it’s sacred. It speaks to the integrity of the very sport itself. Without it being treated as sacrosanct by all who have the solemn duty to report injuries, each game played would be meaningless.

Thank God then, that the Philadelphia Eagles would never do such a thing. And there’s no reason for the NFL to look into it. No reason to suggest maybe it’s an unfair advantage if they lie on the report because they wouldn’t. No need to talk about suspensions or losing draft picks. We’re on the honor system here and teams like Philly don’t cheat the system so don’t even use the word “cheat” or hint that they might be cheaters who cheated.

Other teams might. Not mentioning any names but maybe some other recent Super Bowl champion might merit a full investigation and maybe deserve to have draft picks taken away. But not the Eagles. To use even hint they might have screwed over the Giants and the gamblers would be wrong. Just wrong.

I just hope Lane Johnson is OK. And of course that he’s having fun.