Backup OL Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen help Eagles beat Saints

NEW ORLEANS – As Fred Johnson spoke to a group of reporters gathered in the victorious Superdome locker room, his teammates took notice.

“Yes, Fred! Fred! Yes, Fred!”

You know Johnson's story. You know how much Sunday meant to him.

The Eagles pulled off a gutsy 15-12 win over the Saints on Sunday, playing the entire second half without right guard Mekhi Becton (finger) and right tackle Lane Johnson (concussion). Tyler Steen finished the game at right guard and Fred Johnson at right tackle.

Johnson, 27, had waited a long time for Sunday.

“It's been a long time since I played ball, brother,” Johnson said after hearing his teammates call his name. “What's it been, three years?”

Johnson joined the Eagles' practice squad in November 2022 and has previously said he was angry at the world when he came to Philly. By 2022, Johnson had become an NFL wanderer who began to wonder if his football career was coming to an end. But Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland saw something in Johnson and stuck with him. In turn, Johnson trusted Stout and gave his NFL career a second act as a backup tackle on the Eagles' 53-man roster.

But Sunday was the first time Johnson got real playing time on offense (not counting Week 18 last year) since joining the Bengals in 2021. So while everyone on the team was excited to see Saquon Barkley get in the end zone on Sunday, it meant even more to Johnson.

“After the Saquon touchdown, I almost cried on the sideline,” Johnson said. “I'm not going to lie. I got emotional. I got really emotional because I thought I was never going to play again. Everybody knows part of my story. It just took a long time. When I saw him run to the goal, I was excited, really excited. I was just grateful for the moment. I'm ready to go back out there and do it again.”

Sunday was also a big day for Steen. He went into training camp as the favorite for the Eagles' right guard position, but suffered an ankle injury on the third day and Becton never gave him the job again.

Steen, a 2022 third-round pick, had to accept his role as a backup.

“It was obviously a little frustrating when someone got injured, especially when you get injured as a player because you want to show what you can do on the field and all that,” Steen said. “So it's frustrating, but I know that my coaches and my teammates believe in me, keep improving every day and try to get healthy.”

“Coach (Nick) Sirianni had a meeting before the season and explained that everyone on the team has a role and that every role on the team is important. Once you know your role, you just try to be the best at your role. That's kind of how I took it.”

Since Steen and Johnson are both reserve players, they actually did a lot of reps together in practice, and that good relationship seemed to help them against the Saints.

The Eagles scored both touchdowns on Sunday despite missing four core offensive players: Becton, Lane Johnson, AJ Brown and Devonta Smith.

“We have confidence in everybody on the team,” center Cam Jurgens said. “I think everybody just played hard. Everyone worked their asses off. It's the next man up mentality and I'm proud of Fred and Steen coming in there and playing well. I don't think they missed a beat.”

Very dominant game by the Oline, especially losing Lane and Mekhi, Steen and Big Fred showed up today!

— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) September 22, 2024

We'll see what happens with Becton and Lane Johnson this week. There's a chance one or both will return for the Tampa game. But if not, the Eagles will be ready to go with Steen and Big Fred.

Although Sunday was an important day for Steen, he was as happy for Johnson as everyone else.

“Fred brings a lot of energy every day. Really positive,” Steen said. “I think we all believed in Fred, we all knew Fred was a really good player. And for him to go out there and prove that, I think everyone was just really happy for him.”