The Eagles were without Lane Johnson both times they played the Redskins last season. Not having Johnson in the lineup had a direct impact on quarterback Carson Wentz who was sacked nine times in those two games for a total loss of 60 yards.

As you probably remember, Johnson served a 10-game suspension last season which started before the Eagles week 6 game against the Redskins. In August, Johnson wrote in the Player’s Tribune that last year’s suspension lit a fire under him for 2017.

As for Wentz, he’s just happy to have Johnson back protecting him at left tackle.

“We’re excited for Lane to be back,” Wentz said during his Wednesday press conference. “Thankfully where we’re at, the entire O-Line is healthy. That’s a big strong point of our offense is that O-Line and those big boys up front.

“So having Lane back, having everybody be healthy to start the year is exciting and when those guys are healthy they can be one of the best in the league.”

One of the keys for the Eagles offense going into Sunday’s matchup is whether or not they can establish a good tempo early on. That was a factor in their first loss to the Redskins last season.

Doug Pederson felt it wasn’t just the offense, but how the whole team didn’t play to their best ability in last year’s week 6 loss.

“Well, last year in the first game, I just thought, top to bottom, we just didn’t play very well,” Pederson said during his press conference on Wednesday. “Started slow offensively. [QB] Carson [Wentz] was hit early in the football game. [I] don’t want to make any excuses, but we didn’t play well [on] both sides of the ball. There were some flashes. [S] Malcolm [Jenkins] [had a] pick-six, and we had a kickoff return for a touchdown. There were some flashes, but not enough consistency.”

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Both losses to Washington stayed in the back of Wentz’s mind this offseason. He wants to learn from the errors made and emphasize the positives he found in the final drives of each loss.

“Obviously the losses are frustrating,” Wentz said. “You can go back and watch the tape from last year and realize, shoot, we didn’t play too well. But at the end of those games, we were right there and had opportunities. We just couldn’t pull it out.

“It’s a new season so you try not to let it necessarily affect that but you don’t forget it at the same time.”

What Wentz can carry into this game is a year’s worth of NFL experience under his belt, improved mechanics, and an upgrade at both the receiver and running back positons.

You could sense the eagerness in Wentz’s voice when he was asked about starting the year on the road against a division rival in the Redskins.

“To go down to Washington, a divisional rival, to start the year. You can’t ask for a better scenario,” Wentz said. “It’s an exciting time.”