As expected, Lane Johnson's NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles has begun on the right side of the tracks.
The fourth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft opened Friday's rookie minicamp at right tackle under the watch of Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. Johnson's immediate takeaway? He's a long way from Oklahoma.
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"I just think you have to be more, I guess, refined," Johnson told the team's official site. "You're going against the best of the best now. You're not going against any scrubs anymore so you have to be kind of perfect with what you're doing otherwise you're going to get beat."
Johnson emphasized Friday that he's still learning proper technique at the position after playing his senior season at left tackle. Eagles coach Chip Kelly said of Johnson last month, "I think he is ready, but he is raw. We look at raw as a positive, not a negative."
Johnson, of course, is a natural fit for what the Eagles are doing under Kelly. His agility and quickness represent arguably a better fit for this high-speed attack than what fellow rookies Luke Joeckel or Eric Fisher offer. In that sense, Johnson enters the league in the right place, at the right time.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
