Eagles OT Lane Johnson still critical of Patriots

Over three months after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII, Lane Johnson is continuing to provide his thoughts on the New England Patriots.

During a recent appearance on former wrestler Steve Austin's podcast, the Eagles' right tackle continued to express his disdain for the Patriots while also revealing the basis for his feelings.

"Here's what (ticked) me off," Johnson said on the podcast. "The Patriots, obviously, I respect their coach, I respect Bill (Belichick), I respect Tom Brady, but just because the way they won the Super Bowls, the Patriot Way, is that how everybody is supposed to do the same thing? No, it's not. And that's what I got mad at, the arrogance by them.

"There was obviously some stuff behind closed doors. Their owner talking (expletive) to our owner. Bill talking (expletive) to our head coach (Doug Pederson) before the game. I'm not going to say it, but a lot of (expletive) kind (of) built up to that, and I just got tired of hearing about it, man, to be honest."

Johnson's feelings toward New England are nothing new.

After the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game, Johnson referred to Brady as a "pretty boy" while adding "there's nothing I'd like to do more than dethrone that guy."

After the Eagles won the Super Bowl, he called the Patriots "a fear-based organization." He also continued his assessment when discussing the mysterious circumstances around the decision not to play cornerback Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl.

Philadelphia won its first Super Bowl title with a 41-33 victory, and Johnson continued to view the Patriots as inferior, especially defensively.

"I saw a defense that wasn't overly talented," he said on the podcast. "It was all really about containing Tom Brady. We had a hard time doing that; he had 505 yards. But that was really it, man. Going into the game, I'm not going to be shell-shocked by it. That was kind of our thing going in. I think we had the upper hand on that."