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After the Eagles fired Chip Kelly late last season, right tackle Lane Johnson talked about the physical toll that Kelly’s intense practices and up-tempo offense took on the team’s players over the course of a season.

Johnson said he felt like he was “gonna fall apart” at the end of the season and also commented on the “negative energy” in the organization that emanated from Kelly’s power struggle with executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman. Johnson has a more positive take on the start of the Doug Pederson era in Philadelphia, which he says is ramping up at a good pace rather than “trying to win a football game in April.”

“With Chip here, our practices were pretty much the same, training-camp style from OTAs all the way through, so it wasn’t a progression, it was hit-the-ground running and stay that way the whole year,” Johnson said, via PhillyMag.com. “I think we’re progressing nice here, taking it step by step, and just taking a better approach, I think.”

Johnson said players who played for Andy Reid in Philadelphia recognize some similarities with Pederson, who was an assistant under Reid in both Philadelphia and Kansas City, and feel that it will leave the team fresher in the later stages of the season. Johnson terms that a “smart approach,” although others may wait to issue a verdict until that point actually arrives.