PHILADELPHIA — Fred Johnson was seen on the sideline with a sleeve and a brace on his left leg. The Philadelphia Eagles left tackle didn’t practice, but that was a best-case scenario compared to what could have been.
Johnson injured his knee after Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco put his helmet on his knee during Jalen Hurts’ 18-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of Sunday’s victory. Cisco received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the hit, allowing the Eagles to advance half the distance to the goal on the extra point attempt (the Eagles went for two and missed).
Johnson only missed one play and returned to play the rest of the game, but the injury could have been much worse.
“Does anyone know if he was fined?” Johnson asked when speaking to some reporters about how the knee injury occurred Wednesday. “If not, we have to talk to the league. It hurts.”
Johnson went into more detail about the knee injury, which could have been significantly more painful than simply missing a day of practice. He figures to start his fourth straight game at left tackle for the Eagles against the Dallas Cowboys, which could also be Jordan Mailata’s last game on injured reserve.
“Yeah, I feel good about Sunday. It’s leaning that way,” Johnson said. “We have practice tomorrow. Obviously we’ll see. That hit could have been a lot worse than it looked on film. I just saw him fall and I lifted my leg trying to land on him.
“They said if I had my foot planted, I could have been out all year.”
If Johnson can’t play Sunday, Tyler Steen would be the primary backup at left tackle. Right guard Mekhi Becton was also getting some reps there.
Johnson avoided something much worse, but he’ll be paying attention when the league announces weekly fines.
