Eagles' Lane Johnson explains how he's playing better than ever, discusses Micah Parsons' contract situation

The Philadelphia Eagles were the only team to end the 2024 NFL season happy, as they won Super Bowl LIX vs. the Kansas City Chiefs in convincing fashion. The Eagles tied a franchise record with 14 victories, while new running back Saquon Barkley won NFL Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for the most yards in a full season ever.

Jalen Hurts and Barkley wouldn't have found the success they did without the support of the best offensive line in the NFL, and that includes franchise legend Lane Johnson. Even though he's the longest-tenured Eagle at 35 years old and set to enter his 13th NFL season, the star right tackle has said he's getting close to his "peak." How is that possible? It's because he's a workout warrior who has put an emphasis on retaining his mobility and explosiveness. 

"All I do man is work out for a living, I train. So for me, it's about obviously being strong in the weight room but being mobile," Johnson told CBS Sports this week. "I think the thing is with older guys you tend to see a loss in speed or explosiveness, and I think with some of the training and the athletes you see today, especially Olympians, guys that are doing well in their upper 30s."

Johnson has made six Pro Bowls and has been named either a first or second-team All-Pro in each of the past four years. He's aging like fine wine, following in the path of a few other NFL legends who managed to find the fountain of youth. 

"You had guys like the Jackie Slaters of the world that played 20 years, the Bruce Matthews. But we've had recent guys like (Andrew) Whitworth, Jason Peters, Trent Williams is in his 16th season. So there's blueprints out there and outliers," Johnson said. "I know it's not very common, but I'm around a bunch of uncommon people that are pretty intense individuals."

Speaking of uncommon, the Eagles' Super Bowl win over the Chiefs in February was certainly uncommon. Patrick Mahomes and Co. were attempting to secure the first three-peat of the Super Bowl era and making their fifth Super Bowl appearance over the last six years. However, Philly dominated Kansas City from the opening whistle. 

The Eagles jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead that grew to 34-0 in the third quarter. It was the largest deficit of Mahomes' career and the fifth-largest Super Bowl deficit of all-time. No one expected it. 

Johnson said that while the game was never close, he couldn't get the Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs from two years earlier out of his head. That's what motivated him to keep pushing. 

"I think anytime you're a part of a game like that, you go in and yeah you want it to end like it did," Johnson said. "Really towards the end of the third quarter it felt like we had this thing won. But I just remember the flashbacks to the Super Bowl that we lost in Arizona and that feeling that I had really for those couple years, I think that feeling was just a reminder to finish this game out.

"I was happy with the outcome but I learned a valuable lesson from the one that we lost just the couple of years before, man. The pain of that. So that motivated me to keep playing."

All in all, the Eagles had a dominant season. They won 18 of 21 games, hoisted the Lombardi trophy and basked in the glory that comes with standing atop the NFL world. How does Johnson lock back in? How do you up the ante and keep the younger players just as accountable and hungry as they were in 2024?

"When you look at great teams, like you look at Kansas City, it's been the same for the past six years. They have great players, but I think the players and coaches both hold a standard that has to be met in practice," Johnson said. "For us, the big emphasis is ball security on offense, taking the ball away on defense and then just remembering what got us there. Our habits, how we practice, all that stuff doesn't go away. All those hours that you spend practicing your craft is what shows up on Sundays. As long as those don't change and success doesn't go to your head, I think we can repeat similar success. It is very difficult, you're going to get everybody's best. I learned that in 2018. It wasn't very pretty there in the beginning of the season -- we caught some steam there towards the end -- but it was a lesson learned."

The Eagles will kick off the 2025 season next week against the rival Dallas Cowboys, who have been a mainstay in the headlines due to Micah Parsons' ongoing contract saga. Johnsons knows Parsons is going to get his money from one team or another, and while he hasn't been practicing, Johnson expects to be blocking Parsons next Thursday night. 

"I don't know if he's going to be playing or not or if the contract is going to be done. The longer I've been a part of the league and playing in the NFL, I know how contract disputes can go. Some negotiations are easier than others. He'll get his money eventually, whether it's there or somebody else, but he's going to be a wealthy man soon," Johnson said. "As far as I'm concerned I'm rolling on with him in mind expecting him to be out there. Other than that you try not to think about it. You see stuff in the headlines, and you know teams have different ways of handling business."

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Lane Johnson teamed up with USAA, Official NFL Salute to Service Partner, and Team Whistle for a day in the life going through the military's ultimate test -- SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training. Johnson had a crash course in navigation, fire making and survival skills, and was put under a simulated mission of evading enemies in hostile territory in Team Whistle's "I Could Do That" series.

"USAA invited me to do a day of SERE training a few days before camp. It was really eye-opening as far as giving me a greater appreciation for our military and a day in their life," Johnson said.

"I think what I appreciate about people in the military in general is the teamwork aspect, the ability to endure hardships and overcome hardships, and just fighting for the guy to the left and right of you when the margin for error is very small and the cost of an error is very high. I envy their bravery and their ability to serve and protect."