NFL Network’s Kurt Warner on Eagles’ Struggles to Handle Mounting Injuries

The Eagles have not done a lick on offense in their last two second halves, as Rich put it, first against the Bears on Monday night and then six days later against a Rams team that came back to win. Now Lane Johnson has retired. Kurt Warner looked at all of it and asked the question everyone in Philadelphia is asking: who is left?

"They got so many guys out," Warner said.

He ran through the list. DeVonta Smith's hamstring. Saquon Barkley's status. Bigsby getting surgery. Johnson's retirement and Dickerson on the line.

"So many of their weapons and guys that they've really hung their hat on over the past few years, I don't think are going to be playing in this game, or maybe they get a couple back," Warner said. And the Eagles weren't hitting on all cylinders even before the injuries piled up.

The other factor is the transition to Sean Mannion's system. Warner noted that Jalen Hurts has had six different play callers in six years in the NFL. In past seasons, though, Warner felt the play concepts on film stayed very similar from year to year.

"This year is the first time where I feel like it's different," he said. He wants to ask Mannion directly whether that's true. But if it is, it helps explain what's happening. "You don't have your favorite pieces, and you're trying to transition to a new style of offense. That to me is where some of these issues are coming from."

The path forward may run through the other side of the ball. Warner said the defense played better the last couple of weeks, until the final two drives against the Rams. That unit has been a calling card in recent years and hasn't lived up to the billing this season.

"Maybe it's all about the defense having to step up and carry them for a little while while their offense figures it out," he said.

Rich then gave Warner room to talk about Johnson, who Rich said will join Warner in a bust room one day, and the struggle behind a decision made at a juncture you rarely see.

Warner was careful. He hasn't talked to Johnson and doesn't know all the ins and outs. But he spoke about mental health with real weight.

"I know there's a lot of people out there that don't fully understand what that can mean," Warner said. "And I can say knowing through my family that I understand that at a different level and how serious that can be."

He talked about what players go through, in their families, after long careers, through injuries. "That to me is a very sensitive subject," he said. When a player starts mentioning those things, "you understand there could be bigger things going on."

Everyone wants to see Johnson on the field, Warner said, because he's "such a fun player to watch and such a great dude." But that isn't what matters most.

"More importantly than anything, it's taking care of yourself, making sure you're in the right position moving forward to live a great life and to be able to be there for your family."

Rich summed it up in five words: a Kurt Warner plus one.