Eagles All-Pro offensive lineman Lane Johnson retires after 14 seasons

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro offensive lineman Lane Johnson has announced his retirement from the NFL after 14 seasons.

“I have given it my all for 14 years,” Johnson said Tuesday in a statement, “season after season pushing my body to the max and tirelessly working my craft to not only live up to the legacy of the guys that came before me, but to set a new standard of success for the best franchise in all of sports.”

Johnson had been a late scratch for last week's game against the Los Angeles Rams for personal reasons. He said Tuesday despite wanting to finish the season, his “personal and family priorities in my life have changed.”

Johnson missed time in training camp for personal reasons before saying that this season would probably be his last.

“Lane Johnson is an all-time Eagle and one of the best players ever to play his position in NFL history,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “Lane was a major contributor to our team success for 14 seasons, helping to bring two Super Bowl championships and many other memorable moments to the organization and the city of Philadelphia.”

The 36-year-old Johnson was a first-round pick in 2013 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and 2022. He earned second-team honors in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Johnson has been a pillar at right tackle and won a pair of Super Bowls with the Eagles.

Johnson took a leave of absence during the 2021 season as he battled anxiety and depression and has since shared his story at mental health clinics in the area.

Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, said earlier this year his potential retirement came into focus last season after conversations with his family and an injury-filled season. He missed Philadelphia’s final seven regular-season games and the wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

“Right now, it is critical that I focus on my mental health,” Johnson said. “I owe it to my teammates, coaches, the organization and the fans to have my head and heart 100 percent in the game. And right now my heart is telling me that it's time to say goodbye to football.”

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson (65) reacts on the sideline during an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sept. 11, 2022, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski, File)

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson (65) signals a first down after a successful tush push near the end of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sept. 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson, center, celebrates with linebacker Jalyx Hunt (58) and linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. (3) during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles tackle Lane Johnson (65) prepares to block during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Stew Milne, File)

Christa Pike, a Tennessee inmate who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment at a hospital, her attorneys said Tuesday.

Pike’s attorneys said her prognosis is still unclear and said she faces “a long recovery.”

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care," attorneys for Pike said in a statement. “Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented."

Her attorneys said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”

The statement was the first indication that Pike has improved since an ambulance carried her away from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.

Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as they attempted to put her to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The lethal injection drug didn’t kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered.

As recently as Sunday, her attorneys said Pike had remained unconscious and on a ventilator since the failed execution attempt.

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said the development “bodes well for a good recovery.” But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.

“She’s still in the ICU,” he said. “She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk. There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.”

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction said she could provide no information other than that Pike remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Pike’s attorneys are set to go to court Wednesday as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.

The attorneys are seeking a court order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence, including drug lot numbers, records and other information from the Sept. 30 attempted execution. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles scheduled a Wednesday morning status conference in the case.

Pike’s attorneys said in their Tuesday statement that they continue to ask outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute Pike’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” her attorneys said.

Lee halted further executions following Pike's hospitalization and ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.” U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state’s Republican candidate to replace him, called on the state to explore other methods of execution to ensure it can continue carrying out capital punishment.

Some legal experts have questioned whether the state would be able to try to execute Pike again.

In addition to questions about competency — whether she can understand why she would be put to death — Pike has strong arguments that it would be cruel and unusual to try again, and that it would violate the prohibition on double jeopardy, trying or punishing someone twice for the same offense, said Deborah Denno, a Fordham Law professor who has studied execution methods for 36 years.

“She has satisfied this very, very high standard for cruel and unusual punishment,” Denno said. “She also has a very good double-jeopardy argument. They carried out every aspect of the execution. She didn’t die, but every process they intended, they did it.”

Seattle University Law Professor Michael Russo, who handled capital cases as a public defender in Los Angeles, called the failed execution horrible, but said he doubted whether the Supreme Court would stop the state from trying again on double-jeopardy grounds, should it decide to do so.

“There’s nobody else in the history of the death penalty in this country who has gone through what she’s been through,” Russo said. But, he added, “I think what this Supreme Court would say is, her sentence was to die — to be executed — not to suffer an attempt at execution.”

Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle.

This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Christa Pike on Jan. 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)