Eagles' Lane Johnson expects appeal result this week

DETROIT - This wasn't exactly the note Lane Johnson wanted to go out on.

He'd rather not go out at all, of course, and it's still possible he won't, but Johnson knows the odds are against him in his appeal of a 10-game NFL suspension, as a second-time performance-enhancing drug offender. Johnson spoke with reporters for the first time in several weeks, in the visiting locker room at Ford Field Sunday in the wake of the Eagles' 24-23 loss to the Lions.

"It's been a long three months for me" since the initial notice of a failed test, Johnson said. "I think we should have won that game today. It ultimately comes down to us, with penalties and turnovers."

As for the appeal, "I'm hoping for the best," he said. "We'll see what happens."

Johnson said he expects to learn his fate Wednesday or Thursday. He and his attorney, Steve Zashin, met with an arbitrator and NFL representatives for eight hours last Tuesday in Manhattan.

"The policy. That's pretty much what we did for eight hours. Eight hours of bickering back and forth," Johnson said. "It just felt good to go in there and kind of take it on, head-on. Confront them.

"I didn't say a whole lot. My lawyer just talked. Mainly it was just interpretation of the policy, there's new words that have been put in place, that's basically what it was all over."

Johnson wouldn't explain the basis of his appeal, saying only that it "didn't have to do with any of the substances, it was just a change in testing procedures."

If he is suspended, Johnson won't be allowed in the team practice facility, and won't be able to communicate directly with coaches. He said he plans to stay in the Philadelphia area.

"Stay in shape. Hopefully, our team's good enough to stay in playoff (contention), I'll come back fresh," he said.

The Eagles' newest plan is for rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who hasn't been active for a game yet, to take over for Johnson at right tackle. This would allow Allen Barbre to stay at left guard, a more natural position for him.

There were a few times you might have wished Carson Wentz had gone to Zach Ertz instead of, say Nelson Agholor or Josh Huff, but even if he was a litle underused, with three catches for 37 yards, Ertz looked just fine in his return from a displaced rib, suffered in the season opener.

"We didn't play well enough on offense to win the game," said Ertz, who had been asked a question about Wentz's first career interception, on the Eagles' final play. "I know he's going to beat himself up, but we had so many mistakes as an offense. The burden falls on us. We should never have been in that situation in the first place," Wentz trying to rewin a game the Eagles seemed to have won before a Ryan Mathews fumble helped give the Lions their only points of the second half.

"We didn't execute. A lot of penalties, obviously. We faced a second-and-30. I think that was the first time I've ever been a part of that . . . The whole game was disappointing. Losing compounded everything, but even if we'd come out with the win, I don't think guys would have been happy with how that game played out, by any means."

Corner Leodis McKelvin had more hamstring problems, was in and out. Ditto corner Ron Brooks, with cramps . . . Donnie Jones only punted twice . . . Carson Wentz took off on a couple of designed runs, netting 14 yards without taking a big hit . . . Defensive tackle Bennie Logan (calf) started and seemed OK . . . The Lions were missing their best pass rusher in Ziggy Ansah, their top tight end in Eric Ebron, and starting linebacker DeAndre Levy, but they still made the Eagles look silly in the first half . . . Neither the Lions nor the Eagles gained more than 27 yards on a play - run or pass.

@LesBowen

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