Opinion: Jim Johnson won't be returning to Eagles

At the conclusion of the Eagles' latest voluntary OTAs, Andy Reid held a press conference to wrap it up. He answered questions on many subjects, but the one that piqued my interest and scared me to be honest was that of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.

As I'm sure most if not everyone reading this site will already know, Jim Johnson has taken a leave of absence from his position as defensive coordinator to battle cancer. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy for a metastasized melanoma on his spine.

"There's not much change from the last time I mentioned (his condition)," Reid said. "Some days are good days. Some days are not very good days.

"He is receiving chemotherapy, and pretty intense chemotherapy. There are just some days that that stuff gets you, and then there are other days that he feels pretty good. I have a chance to talk to him about every day, and he's a battler."

I looked up some info on melanoma that has metastasized and what I found was pretty scary. Now, I have no idea of the extent or specifics of Jim Johnson's condition so take this with a grain of salt.

Early stage melanoma is curable, but, once the melanoma has metastasized, prognosis is grim, with a median survival of only 6-9 months.

It's not good. At this point it has to be about survival for JJ, a return to coaching has to be pretty far down the list of priorities. Beating this deadly form of cancer will be tough enough, but doing it in a few months so he can get back to work? That seems impossible to me.

I put "opinion" in the headline because I wanted to stress that this is what this post is. It's an opinion and I don't claim to be reporting any news or even making that informed of a proclamation.

I want nothing more than for Jim Johnson to get healthy and take his rightful place at the head of the Eagles defense.  However, my feeling is that we'll never see Jim Johnson as the Eagles defensive coordinator again. There's nothing I've ever wanted to be wrong about more.