Eagles down to 1 original OL starter to begin week

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Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson was not at practice Wednesday as the Eagles began preparations to play the Ravens on Sunday.

It’s unclear if Johnson (ankle) will be able to play this weekend.

Earlier this week, Johnson had a second opinion on his surgically repaired left ankle and it was determined that he won’t need more surgery. Head coach Doug Pederson wasn’t interested in getting into too many specifics on Wednesday morning.

“I’m not going to comment on the second opinion, but I will say that he's going to be out today,” Pederson said. “We're going to give him some rest. He's kind of in that day-to-day realm right now. We're going to see where he's at later in the week, but we'll find out and see where he's at.”

Without Johnson at practice on Wednesday, rookie fourth-round pick Jack Driscoll was at right tackle. Driscoll has filled in when Johnson has been in and out of the lineup the last two weeks.

The Eagles on Wednesday were down to just one projected starter on their OL:

LT: Jordan Mailata 

LG: Nate Herbig

C: Jason Kelce

RG: Matt Pryor

RT: Jack Driscoll

Pederson was asked about the idea that maybe the Eagles should sit Johnson for a week or two to let that left ankle rest.

“Well, I want to make sure number one that he's 100 percent,” Pederson said. “If he's 100 percent then he'll play. Players play, right? Obviously, those are conversations we have later in the week with all of our guys. Obviously, we're talking about Lane now but we're not there yet with him. We'll make that determination as we get further down this week.”

Here are some other notes from Wednesday’s practice:

• Alshon Jeffery (foot) and DeSean Jackson (hamstring) were both practicing on Wednesday as limited participants. Jackson has missed the last two games and Jeffery has not yet made his season debut. Both players have been taking up active roster spots while injured.

If Jackson doesn’t play this weekend, the Eagles will have wasted a roster spot on him for three weeks because they could have put him on IR. And if Jeffery doesn’t play this weekend they would have wasted a roster spot on him for six weeks because they could have put him on PUP. We’ll see.

• Cornerback Darius Slay (concussion) was at practice with a helmet but was working on a side field with a trainer. Officially, he did not practice. He’ll have to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol before playing on Sunday. But the fact that he was out there at all on Wednesday is an encouraging sign.

• Avonte Maddox (ankle) was also at practice today with a helmet. He was working on a side field early in practice but he’s getting closer to a return. He has missed the last two games. He was a limited participant.

• LB Duke Riley (rib), S Marcus Epps (rib) and S K’Von Wallace (neck) were all spectators at Wednesday’s practice, presumably with injuries they suffered against the Steelers.

• Three players — Shaun Bradley, Jamon Brown and Hassan Ridgeway — missed practice because of illness on Wednesday.

• Fletcher Cox was not at practice for a personal day.

• Vinny Curry (hamstring) and Will Parks (hamstring) were practicing. Both players are on IR but Curry’s practice window was opened last week and Parks’ practice window was opened this week.

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