Lane Johnson sent shockwaves through the NFL this week with a surprise retirement announcement ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars' Week 5 London game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Johnson sat out Philadelphia's Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams for what the team called "personal reasons" before making the surprise announcement Tuesday evening.
"He set a standard in a lot of ways at the tackle position over the last X amount of years," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said of Johnson this week.
The Eagles originally drafted Johnson with the fourth-overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Johnson started all 171 games he played for the Eagles over his 14-year career. He won two
Super Bowls, was voted first-team All-Pro twice (2017, 2022), second-team All-Pro three times (2021, 2023, 2024) and earned Pro Bowl (2017-19, 2022-24) nods.
Johnson spoke to his mental health, saying he owes "it to my teammates, coaches, the organization and the fans to have my head and heart 100 percent in the game. And right now my heart is telling me that it's time to say goodbye to football," Johnson said in a statement he published on social media this week.
His unexpected retirement reignited discussions surrounding mental health, and what matters to the humans behind the facemask.
Coen has often spoken about the importance of connection and understanding football's human element. The team's roster has felt it.
“When you’re vulnerable with your team, it’s easier to relate to a head coach, especially when he tells his story,” Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis said about Coen last year. “Even the bad and good stuff … We know that he cares about us and he tells us the truth.”
Coen briefly reflected on Johnson's announcement.
"I mean, I think everybody goes through stuff, right? As human beings. And you've got to remember that there is life outside of this game, and this is a job. It's our job," Coen said.
Coen doesn't expect drop-off for Eagles OL with Johnson retiring
Johnson's talent is unquestionable. He's one of the league's top offensive tackles, and has been since he was drafted.
The Eagles have leaned on his talent to move the ball through multiple regimes. First, under Doug Pederson in a passing game that required plenty of protection, and more recently under head coach Nick Sirianni in Philadelphia's heavy run-first offense.
He won Super Bowls under both coaches and has been a mainstay for the offense. His loss will be felt. Still, Coen doesn't believe it will impact Philadelphia too much. He's seen the team overcome adversity on its offensive line plenty of times.
"I mean, I think it changes in terms of, you're losing a really good player, right? But, if you look at over the course of the years, the injuries, sometimes they've had guys, sometimes they haven't," Coen said.
"I think that they have confidence in the guys being able to step up and play. So, from a game plan standpoint, it doesn't change much."
With Johnson's retirement and the Eagles sending center Cam Jurgens to the Ravens via a trade OCt. 7, the Eagles are expected to start (from left to right), Jordan Mailata, Willie Lampkin, Drew Kendall, Tyler Steen and Markell Bell on their offensive line. Lampkin is starting at left guard with Landon Dickerson on injured reserve.
Jaguars set to head to London, Coen preaches mental toughness
The Jaguars will travel to London Thursday evening in time for an early afternoon practice at The Grove before spending the next 10 days across the pond. They'll face the Eagles in Week 5 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before taking on the Houston Texans in Week 6 about 13 miles away at Wembley Stadium.
Ahead of the voyage, Coen addressed his team, making sure they were mentally prepared for the schedule disruption. Athletes are creatures of habit and will need to find balance to remain on target.
"We got to have mental toughness to prepare ourselves throughout this week, and also have a professionalism to us that understands this is a business trip. We're going out there to play football games," said Coen.
"Anytime you get outside of your normal rhythm and routine and environment, something is going to happen to you. Something will tweak. It's natural for every human being, and so what I challenge them is to identify what it is for you that can occur."
Coen said he communicated just that with the players.
"Think about it over the next few days before we get out there," Coen recalled. "If it's a diet routine, is it your workout routine? Is it your sleep routine? Is it your social routine? What are those things that you have to maybe look at to identify and communicate that to the people in this building that can help you get ahead of some of those potential issues."
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Demetrius82 or on BlueskyatDemetrius.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Lane Johnson retires: Jaguars' Liam Coen reflects on human side of football
