Eagles' Tyler Steen Gets His Opportunity: 'You Don't Want To Disappoint Those Guys'

PHILADELPHIA - When reporters enter the Eagles’ locker room, there is often a controlled sprint to the back on the right-hand side.

That’s where the “cool kids” reside, Philadelphia’s vaunted offensive line, where production meets personality.

The setup mirrors the O-Line itself from left to right, with the personable Jordan Mailata in the “Jason Peters locker” at the very back of the room. From there, it’s Mailata’s good friend and confidant, Landon Dickerson, the three-time Pro Bowl left guard, and Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens.

All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson is on the other end, on the edge of the entrance to the players’ lounge, where ping-pong is often the main event.

In between, Jurgens and Johnson is where third-year pro Tyler Steen now resides, a year after holding the prime real estate for a very brief period before being evicted by a training camp ankle injury and a massive, powerful Airbnb tenant who decided to extend his stay for a Super Bowl season, Mekhi Becton.

“I think I could have handled it better,” Steen said earlier last week when discussing his first opportunity to land the RG job. “I think when you don't achieve what you want to achieve, you could be disappointed. … But you’ve just got to move on.”

For Steen, that meant filling in when needed over 21 games through a Super Bowl LIX championship. There were three starts – two in the regular season and one in the NFC championship game at LG when Dickerson had to move over for an ailing Jurgens.

Can Tyler Steen Fit Into 'The Standard'

Eagles All-Pro RT Lane Johnson. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Steen ended up playing 400 snaps (27% of the team’s total in the regular season and 31% in the postseason).

The sample size was large enough to convince offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland that Steen deserved another opportunity to earn the RG job after Becton left for the LA Chargers in free agency.

This summer, a perceived competition never materialized. Trade pickup Kenyon Green was kept at LG, while the returning Matt Pryor and Darian Kinnard split backup work to Steen. Meanwhile, second-year player Trevor Keegan spent most of his time at LG and cross-training at center.

When the dust settled, Green was waived and brought back to the practice squad, while Kinnard was traded to Green Bay, and Keegan was claimed off waivers by Dallas.

The Week 1 depth chart includes an entrenched Steen backed up by the veteran Pryor.

“I think [the summer] went well,” Steen said. “I got the chance to really improve throughout the summer and get comfortable. I’m very confident. I'm really confident in the guys we have in that room and I plan on leaning on those guys, just making sure we communicate well.”

Johnson has been a big proponent of Steen.

“He’s stronger than he’s ever been, he’s got tremendous feet, he’s going against Jalen Carter and Moro (Ojomo) every day, two really dynamic players as you know, and he’s holding his own, doing well, communicating the line,” the future Hall of Famer said.

“I think that Lane does a good job of communicating,” Steen said of his star linemate when asked about the positive reinforcement he’s gotten from Johnson. “So whatever he sees, and whatever he thinks I do well, and whatever I can do better, he’s going to tell me. I really appreciate that. And coming from somebody like that, you’re going to listen.

“Whenever Lane gives me feedback, I’m all ears.”

The developmental trajectory of Steen was steep because his entire college career at Vanderbilt and Alabama was spent playing outside at offensive tackle.

"I never played guard in college. So it was new at first going in there," Steen admitted. "It just felt like everything was a little more constricted because when you play tackle, you don’t have anybody to your right or your left, or whatever the case is. You just feel like you’re playing more 1-on-1, I guess.

"That was one of the main things that I had to kind of re-figure out as far as playing O-line. But I feel more than comfortable playing guard now. It didn’t happen right away as I envisioned it."

It's one thing to feel comfortable playing the position; it's another to fit in with "the standard" in the Eagles' offensive line room.

“It’s interesting,” Steen admitted. “You don’t really want to disappoint those guys in the room just because you know what they’ve done. I’ve been here for two years, and I’ve seen how well they could play.

“You don’t want to get in there and not mess it up, but you want to be the guy they can count on just because you know if you’re on the same page and executing, then everything is going to be alright.”

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