Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Lane Retires & Tommy Update

Posted October 7th, 2026 | No Comments »

I reported to the hospital on Tuesday morning. I needed a surgical procedure on my colon (hopefully the last one). I handed my phone to the nurse about 11:30. The procedure went well and I got my phone back late in the afternoon. I had several texts from friends asking for an update. One mentioned something about Lane Johnson.

I went to Twitter and didn’t see anything right away so I decided to go to Bleeding Green Nation. Brandon and his staff do a great job of getting news up quickly. And there it was…Lane Johnson retires.

What a strange day.

I’ll get my news out of the way quickly. The surgery went well. My colon should be good to go now. The tumor is gone and the colon has been repaired. I’m in the hospital for a couple of days, resting and testing. They need to make sure my colon is functioning before they can release me. The docs are happy with my progress so far.

I still have some chemo to do. The cancer is gone for now. The additional chemo is to try to keep it from coming back. I’m not looking forward to more chemo, but I want to do whatever I can to keep the cancer away. 2026 has been the strangest year of my life. I haven’t worked a single day. I’m hoping to return to the office in the next 10 to 15 days. I miss being part of a team and interacting with people. Paychecks are nice as well. I’ve made good progress overall and I’ve had great support from friends and family, as well as Eagles Nation. Thank you so much.

Now I just need the Eagles to help me out. Play some good football. Convert a 3rd down. Score in the second half. And win!

LANE

We knew Lane would retire at the end of the season. That got changed to Week 5. Losing one of the best RTs in NFL history at midseason isn’t ideal of course. But Lane has to take care of himself. He’s had a challenging year. Dealing with sick parents isn’t easy. He lost his mentor Jeff Stoutland in the coaching change. There is a new offense to learn. Those things add up, especially to a person who has acknowledged having mental health issues.

Lane has been a great Eagle. He helped the team get to three Super Bowls and win two of them. Him walking away early doesn’t diminish any of what he’s accomplished. I hope most people aren’t mad at him. He has to focus on himself and his family before football.

I’ve told this story a few times, but it bears repeating. I watched Oklahoma play UTEP early in 2012. The announcers talked about this former QB was now playing LT. That fascinated me so I wrote his name down as a player to study. I watched him in that game and he impressed me. I followed him all season and he continued to impress. Lane went to the Combine and had one of the best workouts of all time. Would he last to pick 4 in the 2013 draft?

Andy Reid did us a huge favor by taking OT Eric Fisher first overall. Then the Jags took OT Luke Joeckel second. Everyone thought the Eagles wanted DL Dion Jordan who had played for Chip Kelly at Oregon. Miami swooped in and took him third. Lane Johnson became an Eagle with the #4 pick.

Lane was up and down as a rookie. He got a little better each year and then emerged as an elite player by the middle of his career. He was special.

MARKEL

Markel Bell now becomes your RT. The Eagles drafted him wit the hope that he would be the RT of the future. They just didn’t think the future would start in early October. Don’t expect Bell to be great. He’s a rookie. There will be ups and downs. We had those with Lane in 2013. The key is for Bell to be functional and show the potential that made the Eagles like him so much. Bell knows this is his job for now. Getting practice reps with the 1’s will help him be better prepared for the rest of the season.

Now the team need Fred Johnson to get healthy so he can be the swing tackle and offer good depth.

CAM JURGENS

We got some surprising news today.

The Ravens have been hit hard with injuries to their interior OL. They gad to move a rookie OG to play center. They must feel they have a SB roster and need a C to help them win right away.

The Eagles spent a 2nd round pick on Jurgens so getting that in return is a good deal. He was struggling with the move to LG. I’m assuming Willie Lampkin will take over the spot until Landon Dickerson is healthy and gets his job back.

Jurgens was a terrific center in 2024. He got hurt late that season and hasn’t been the same player since. Moving him to LG with no practice certainly didn’t help. I think this tells you the Eagles are happy with Drew Kendall as their center moving forward. He has played well this season.

We’ve gone from

Mailata – Dickerson – Jurgens – Steen – Johnsom

to

Mailata – Lampkin – Kendall – Steen – Bell

They went from a veteran group to a young group. It will be interesting to see how the young guys perform. They could be the future if they play well and are getting a great opportunity to show what they can do.

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