The Line Gets Whole Again: Lane Johnson Back, Jalyx Hunt Rising

You want to know what August in South Jersey feels like for a football family? It feels like the phone buzzing at your kitchen table with a text from your cousin in Camden that just says two words: “Lane’s back.”

That’s the news out of the NovaCare Complex this weekend, and around here it lands harder than a preseason box score ever could. Lane Johnson, the future Hall of Fame right tackle, returned to practice after missing the better part of a week on an excused, non-injury designation. When he stepped back into the huddle Saturday, the Eagles got their first real look at the starting offensive line whole — the five men this whole operation is built on. It isn’t glamour. It’s the working part of a working team. It’s why this region loves them.

A young rusher serves notice

The other man worth talking about this weekend doesn’t have a statue coming. Not yet. His name is Jalyx Hunt, and on Day 8 — the longest, hottest, most humid practice of camp so far — he was the best story on the grass. In one-on-one drills between the offensive and defensive lines, Hunt beat Lane Johnson himself on an inside move, then stacked one pass-rush move on top of another like a man who’d figured out something about himself over the offseason. When a young rusher gets the better of a seven-time Pro Bowler, even once, even in August, you write it down. That’s how careers start.

There was a scare, too. Center Cam Jurgens returned Saturday and took most of the first-team reps, only to leave practice early — right at the very end, which is the merciful part. Jurgens is the pivot of that offensive line, the man who gets the call out before Jalen Hurts ever touches the ball. The Eagles will tell us more in the coming days, and this region will be listening.

The worry lives at one position

The injury list is crowded at one spot: wide receiver. Not practicing Saturday were DeVonta Smith (hamstring), Makai Lemon (hamstring), Britain Covey (hamstring), Danny Gray (concussion), along with linebacker Keyshawn James-Newby (ankle) and safety Cole Wisniewski (hamstring). Six hamstrings and a concussion. Half of them are receivers. Hamstrings in August are the kind of thing a smart team treats with patience and a nervous fan base treats with a stomachache. There’s no reason to panic over Smith — but you’d like to see that room get healthy before the games count.

And the games are coming. The Eagles open the preseason August 15 at Baltimore, a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Ravens, then head to New England for joint practices with the Patriots on August 19 and 20. Joint practices are where you really learn something — different helmets, different attitudes, real edge. That’s the week the picture starts to sharpen.

The big fella is back, the line is whole, and somewhere in the pile a young pass rusher just served notice. It’s hot, it’s August, and the Birds are building something in the heat.Samuel Banks

Down here, that’s all the reason we need to keep watching.

Based on reporting from NBC Sports Philadelphia, PhillyVoice, Bleeding Green Nation, and the Philadelphia Eagles.