Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks Update

[ThoughtProcess]

Speaking on BIRDS365 Thursday, Johnson expects to be fully cleared from a second December ankle surgery in about a month.

"Going good. Still in rehab," Johnson told me. "I'm running, moving around well so probably a month out from being cleared fully but yeah, it was a tight-rope procedure in the beginning but I needed a deltoid repair, which is the inside ligament of your ankle. So that was torn. I tried playing as much as I could but I couldn't do the things or really push off the way I wanted to. Got the surgery Dec. 7.

"About five months out so feeling good. I'm feeling like my old self."

Brooks tore his Achilles' in June of last year and Johnson said his good friend is champing at the bit to get back.

"I know he's excited coming off that injury last year," Johnson said. "As far as being cooped up and ready to go, man, he's a ball of energy, and yeah, having [Jason] Kelce back to so we're eager to get out there and perform.

"We're eager to keep our quarterback clean and get this offense rolling. ...you know up front is where it starts and we're eager to get the job done so last year was unacceptable and we're here to change that."

[Pliny]

It would be huge to have both these guys not only back, but healthy. Good news for once.

[Eagle60]

It would be huge to have both these guys not only back, but healthy. Good news for once.

Great news Pliny! We should return to being solid up front and give us a good shot to evaluate Hurts.

[andrewaters]

If Johnson and Brooks are healthy. Kelce stays healthy. This is the best OL in the league.

[Eaglebreath]

If Johnson and Brooks are healthy. Kelce stays healthy. This is the best OL in the league.

I wouldn't go quite that far. They still have Seomalo at LG, who I think is just a guy, and the LT position is unsettled. They are going in the right direction though. If they get healthy and get the right guy at LT, they could be really good, and it should reflect on the team overall.

[NoDakIggle]

Johnson and Brooks are still dominant players if healthy yet they are on the downside. As is Kelce. Seamalo is solid in my mind especially if paired with a good C and T. If Dillard, Driscoll, can pan out as tackles and the birds can pick up a quality center this year the birds will be fine for the future

[Eagle60]

Johnson and Brooks are still dominant players if healthy yet they are on the downside. As is Kelce. Seamalo is solid in my mind especially if paired with a good C and T. If Dillard, Driscoll, can pan out as tackles and the birds can pick up a quality center this year the birds will be fine for the future

I'd really like to know the story on Dillard ND. To me he has great body lean, quickness and strength. Why do the Birds seem down on him? They talk like the guy doesn't even exist.

[ThoughtProcess]

I'd really like to know the story on Dillard ND. To me he has great body lean, quickness and strength. Why do the Birds seem down on him? They talk like the guy doesn't even exist.

Here's one man's opinion on the LT battle:

At 6-foot-8 and 350 pounds, Mailata has all the size, strength, and athleticism to excel but never played a down of football at any level before moving and being essentially recruited into the sport thanks to his prodigious physical gifts.

The Eagles took a flyer on the former rugby player in the seventh round of the 2018 draft and handed the biggest piece of clay ever to well-regarded offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.

There have been stops and starts along the way but Mailata began to take off when being forced into action last season.

"I think he was thinking through stuff too much," Brooks assessed. "Now he understands the sets. He's finally an offensive lineman and not just a great athlete."

Johnson offered a similar critique to SI.com Eagle Maven earlier in the week when it came to Mailata.

"You look at Mailata and where he started and where he ended up, The season that he had. ... Steady improvement and that's what you want to see," said Johnson.

Brooks offered a far harsher assessment when it came to Dillard, a natural pass protector who took some criticism as a rookie when he failed to fight through a move to right tackle when he was needed there in 2019.

"You can't buy heart," said Brooks. "You can't go see the wizard and get the heart."

Competition is what new coach Nick Sirianni has stressed and to date, Brooks hasn't seen the fire from Dillard.

"I've never seen a guy more happy to be injured and be put on IR," Brooks said. "It's almost like the Sound of Music was flowing through his head. He was on the sidelines with the sling on last year, I'm like 'Come on man, are you kidding me?' He was happy on IR to me."

Brooks noted the critique was personal and others may have seen things differently but didn't let up.

"... That's just me, though.

[NoDakIggle]

That is scathing tp. To be thought of as not having heart will put you in the Danny Watkins school of Iglesias fan hatred

[Eagle60]

Holy hell I've NEVER heard a guy get ripped like that ever by a teammate, esp. from a class act like Brooks! Thanks TP. It will be tough for the O line to be in the same room together after those remarks and they sure aren't trading Brooks! Thankfully Mailatta and Driscol have come along nicely. That gives us 6 quality interior players. Am I leaving anybody else out?

[ThoughtProcess]

Andre Dillard:

The 2019 first-round draft pick was someone who wasn’t supposed to slide into the 20s – NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah had him going No. 8 overall to the Texans in his final mock draft that spring - but when he did, the Eagles traded up three spots to grab him at No. 22 overall.

He showed flashes at left tackle during his rookie year when Jason Peters’ health betrayed him. Dillard started three games at left tackle and another at right tackle, which was an abysmal failure, and he was benched at halftime of that start.

It’s too early to give up on him, especially after he missed his second season with a torn biceps suffered during training camp.

He wasn’t having an overly impressive camp to that point, so that is a concern and now he faces stiff competition to start from Jordan Mailata, who rose up to meet his challenge last year and has positioned himself as the favorite to win the job.