Lane Johnson said he has nothing to hide. He said he did nothing wrong.
But he still knows he’s going to be suspended.
The Eagles’ right tackle, who is facing a 10-game PED suspension, said after Saturday’s practice that he thought he took the correct precautions to avoid testing positive, but now fully expects to be suspended.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Johnson said. “I’ve known this for a couple weeks and have come out here like nothing’s wrong and that’s been the hardest thing.”
Johnson, 26, said he believes the positive test was a result of taking an amino acid he bought online. Johnson said the NFL Players Association gives players an app called Aegis Shield, which approves supplements.
The NFLPA, however, according to Johnson, does not test the supplements (although the NFLPA denied that in the statement below). And he claimed if he brought the supplement to the Eagles, the trainer would just read the ingredients; the team wouldn’t test the individual supplement because it would cost “thousands of dollars.”
“But I want that to be clear,” Johnson said, “that the NFLPA does not stand up for players. They don’t check the supplements. They give us an app, and then when you call them and ask them if you test positive for something they approve, it doesn’t matter. That’s all I got to say about that.”
NFL
An NFLPA spokesperson responded to CSNPhilly.com with the following statement:
"We always stand up for the rights of our players. Mr. Johnson's statements are factually inaccurate and we have been in touch with both Lane and his agent, who now understand the facts.
"The NFLPA does not approve any supplements or substances. Since 2012 and at the request of player leadership, we have had a partnership with Aegis that provides a mobile app as a resource for players to check listed ingredients on a supplement to see if it is on the banned list. We constantly remind all players that even if a supplement is "checked green" the supplement provider may not list certain ingredients therein that a player can test positive for.
"This slide is used at every team meeting to inform players about the Aegis App and other aspects of the drug policies. This same information is distributed to agents as well.
"For several years, the NFLPA has provided a free service to every NFL player who wishes to have us test a supplement they send to us and this service was offered to Lane."
Johnson has sent off the supplement to be tested, but even if it is tainted it won’t matter. As long as his B sample comes back positive, he’ll be out for 10 games.
“Even if it does come back contaminated, there’s nothing I can do,” Johnson said. “The NFL says you’re responsible for what you put in your body, but I feel as a player, there needs to be more coverage.”
Johnson expects the results of his B sample test to come back in a few weeks, which might be close to the start of the regular season. Johnson said he’s “not very confident” his B sample will be clean. The B sample is taken at the same time as the A sample.
This suspension will be 10 games because Johnson was already suspended for the first four games of the 2014 season after his first PED violation.
Johnson said this time is different, though.
“The first time, I knew I was at fault,” he said. “And there’s no worse feeling than having to go through this again. This is something I desperately wanted to avoid. This is something I never want to be apart of again. I learned my lesson and I feel like the players have no rights. I feel like the supplement industry is not regulated, so you do not know what’s in it.”
On Saturday, the team was clearly preparing for life without Johnson. While he worked with the second team, Allen Barbre took first team reps at right tackle and rookie Isaac Seumalo went to left guard. Johnson worked with the second team in 2014, when that suspension was being handed down.
On Thursday, head coach Doug Pederson said he thought he had the guys in-house to fill in for Johnson during the impending suspension.
“Yeah, and that’s smart of them,” Johnson said about the team’s moving on. “I’m just taking it in stride and trying to go from there.”