Eagles offensive line loses two key pieces, but Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen step in and deliver

NEW ORLEANS — The night before the Eagles’ road game against the New Orleans Saints, Jeff Stoutland opted to do something he hadn’t in four years.

With extra time on the schedule to spare before the offensive line’s next meeting, Stoutland brought back a tradition where he would allow a player to share a message or story with the room, according to left tackle Jordan Mailata. On Saturday night, Stoutland let Lane Johnson have the floor.

The 12-year veteran right tackle relayed a message that proved to be prophetic during the Eagles’ nail-biter of a 15-12 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Johnson underscored the importance of each individual in the room, especially the backups, including Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen. Cam Jurgens said he singled out Johnson and Steen, relaying his trust and sense of belief in the swing tackle and backup right guard and encouraging them to stay ready for their opportunities.

Those chances to affect the game came less than 24 hours later. After Mekhi Becton went down with a hand injury and Lane Johnson sustained a concussion in the first quarter, Fred Johnson and Steen entered in relief and helped the offense stay afloat against the No. 4-ranked Saints defense.

“I’m so proud of them, man,” Mailata said. “It’s hard to do what they did. Most people would fold. And I believe it had a lot to do with Lane speaking to us last night as a unit.”

That sense of trust that the linemen had in Fred Johnson and Steen was rooted in preparation. Every Thursday, the team has a period called the “twos,” according to Mailata, in which Johnson, Steen, and Nick Gates take reps with him and Jurgens. In hindsight, Mailata said it felt good to see their hard work in practice pay off in a game.

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Still, weeks of preparation didn’t stop the pregame nerves from bubbling up within Fred Johnson, long before he knew he would play a single snap. In an effort to quell the anxiety that he felt before the game, the 27-year-old swing tackle downloaded a meditation app that walked him through breathing exercises. When he got the nod from Stoutland to take over at right tackle, he focused on his breathing as the app had encouraged and prepared himself mentally to shoulder his biggest single-game workload since 2021.

“It turns out I needed it really bad,” Fred Johnson said with a laugh. “I just took some deep breaths, calmed down, went out there played the best play [I could]. If I had bad plays, focus on the next one and be of use to my team.”

The game wasn’t perfect for Johnson, Steen, and the rest of the offensive line. The group incurred two of the offense’s seven penalties, including a pair of false starts from Mailata and Fred Johnson in the second quarter. But the good overshadowed the bad, particularly on Saquon Barkley’s 65-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Eagles their first lead of the night.

Before the snap, Jurgens and left guard Landon Dickerson had identified that the Saints were going to be blitzing inside linebacker Pete Werner through the C gap based on his positioning and the split of the defensive end from the rest of the front. The offensive line adjusted and Mailata managed to turn Werner aside, opening up a lane for Barkley to burst through on his way to the end zone, which gave the Eagles a 7-3 lead.

Dallas Goedert commended Fred Johnson, too, for his block on Carl Granderson that put the defensive end on his back. After Barkley’s touchdown, Fred Johnson said he nearly cried on the sideline as he reflected on his journey to this point in his career. He has played for three teams in the last four seasons and has mostly served in a backup role throughout his entire six-year tenure in the NFL.

“I thought I’d never be back in action,” he said. “Everybody knows some of my story. This has been a long time coming. When I seen him running and score, I got hype. I got real hype. I was just grateful for the moment.”

Barkley wasn’t surprised by the way his offensive line played up front, backups and all, allowing him to have a 17-carry, 147-yard performance complete with a pair of touchdowns and a successful two-point conversion attempt.

“That’s why Stout’s on their [expletive] like that every day,” Barkley said. “Everybody, they all get coached like starters. They all get coached like starters. Fred and Steen stepped up today big for us, and it starts with Cam and Landon and Jordan, communication and just trusting each other.”

For Steen, who dealt with an ankle injury during training camp and lost the starting right guard job to Becton, the month has been all about staying patient and prepared. The Eagles’ third-round pick out of Alabama in 2023, Steen acknowledged that he was frustrated at the way things played out this summer, but he said he still knew that his coaches and teammates trusted him.

He focused on trying to get better in his role every day, a message imparted by Nick Sirianni on every player on the 70-man roster. Ultimately, the Eagles needed him, and his teammates didn’t sugarcoat the challenges that come with trying to fill the roles of Becton and the elder Johnson.

“It’s hard, man,” Mailata said. “It’s hard to play in this league. It’s hard to win in this league. But holy [expletive], this was a good win.”