PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles huddled as a full team after a sweltering 89-minute practice and sang “Happy Birthday” to quarterback Jalen Hurts. Among those serenading the 28-year-old quarterback? Lane Johnson, the franchise right tackle who returned to practice after missing nearly a week for personal reasons. Among those watching? Jaylen Brown, the NBA star who now plays across the street for the 76ers, attended the Eagles’ Friday practice.With those key figures in mind, let’s get to what we observed, learned and heard in the seventh session of the summer:1. The biggest news at practice was Johnson’s return. He’s one of the most valuable players on the team — he might be the best, even though he was excluded from the NFL Network’s top 100 — and there were few details about his absence when he was initially elsewhere for personal reasons. Johnson missed four sessions before he emerged from the weight room in uniform ahead of the horn to begin Saturday’s practice.
Johnson did not return to his full workload. He participated in individual drills, but the team is easing him back to practices, so Markel Bell continued to play with the first-team offense in team drills. But the key development for the Eagles was Johnson’s return to the team. Practice time is important for everyone — especially with a new offense — although in Year 14, what matters most with Johnson is that he’s available.“Lane can pick things up very fast and (is a) phenomenal football player,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I’m not concerned there. You get to see a little portion of each day out at practice, but there’s 12 more hours of the day where they’re in walkthroughs, they’re in meetings, and things like that. There’s so much more going on than the things you guys get to see here.”
