Landon Dickerson Has Surgery, Brett Toth Steps In, But Wasn't happy With Practice

Landon Dickerson had meniscus surgery on Wednesday morning. It was his offensive linemate, Lane Johnson, who broke the news to the media following Wednesday’s first of two practices against the Cleveland Browns at the team’s NovaCare Complex. The team later confirmed the procedure.

Johnson was not just a breaker of news at his post-practice press conference, which was the second time he met reporters and the first time since Day 1 back on July 24. The talented right tackle also put on his scouting hat and gave reports on the player taking Dickerson’s left guard spot on the first team, Brett Toth.

“I feel like he’s having his best training camp,” said Johnson. “He came back from knee surgery (that cost him the entire 2022 season), and I told Brett I feel like he’s playing lower than he ever has. He’s playing really heavy handed, so using his hands really well, and he’s a guy who can play really all positions if we need him to. Brett has taken a big step forward.”

Toth felt like he took a step back against the Browns, however.

“I did not perform up to my standard, and I’ve got to do better, and (Thursday) is a good day to respond,” he said, then leaned on one of former teammate Brandon Brooks’ quotes about how the other guys get paid, too.

Still, he wasn’t happy with his practice against Browns rookie Mason Graham, the fifth overall pick in the draft, and other Cleveland interior tackles.

“I got beat, dumb mistakes,” said Toth. “There are a lot of plays in football that you’re going to be beat on … these are generational athletes that you go against on a daily basis, so every now and then, they’re going to win a rep with a great move. But it’s the mistakes that you do to yourself to give them an easy win that you can’t have. This game is too hard to have any sort of mistake, whether it’s technique-based, mental based. It’s unacceptable for us.”

Dickerson will return soon enough, so these are good learning reps for Toth. It could have been much worse, especially when Dickerson went down late in Sunday’s open practice at Lincoln Financial Field. Johnson threw his helmet, fearing the worst. When news came that the injury wasn’t something like a season-ending ACL or Achilles tear, the relief was palpable.

“You see the way he fell, and he’s had a lot of surgeries, and him saying one thing how he feels, it was alarming, but I’m glad that we got a good case scenario out of the whole thing,” said Johnson. “I know they’re gonna do a good job rehabbing him and bringing him back. But make no mistake, Landon is one of, if not the best guard in football, so powerful, smart, and just a good person to have in the locker room.”