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After taking care of business in a commanding way in Week 7 against the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up for a Week 8 showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio, but not at full strength.
That's right, after watching Dallas Goedert go down in Week 6 with a hamstring injury and Mechi Becton leave Week 7 with a concussion, the Eagles have officially ruled out three players heading into Bengals Week, with reserve defensive tackle Byron Young heading to IR with a hamstring injury of his own.
Fortunately, in their absence – minus Young, who hasn't played all year – the Eagles have a few good options to lighten the load, with Grant Calcatara turning in some good production in Week 6 against the Browns and Tyler Steen looking like a natural right guard in reserve duty leading the way for Saquon Barkley's huge effort against his former team.
Now granted, if Goedert's injury becomes chronic or he takes a step back over the next few weeks, maybe the Eagles will have to address the situation before the trade deadline, targeting a new tight end like, say, Michael Mayer from the Raiders to bolster their offensive depth. But for now, the Eagles have an elite run game and an explosive passing attack designed around big plays down the field; if that continues down two starters, gosh Philly might really have something.
Nick Sirianni is proud of Tyler Steen's play for the Eagles in Week 7
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Discussing the process of going from Becton to Steen seemingly without skipping a beat in Week 7, Nick Sirianni celebrated the depth Jeff Stourland has developed over the years, noting that the pride of Alabama made some key plays in the run game alongside stalwart right tackle Lane Johnson.
“Yeah, again, I feel like we have good depth there to have different options. [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line] Coach [Jeff Stoutland] Stout does a good job of rotating the guys at different spots. So I feel like we have good options there with our depth with [T] Jordan [Mailata] out and [T] Fred [Johnson] starting on the offensive line,” Sirianni told reporters.
“There've been a lot of guys. [G/T] Mehki [Becton] has done it. So it could be a lot of different answers there. And that's a good thing, that you have options. As far as [G/T] Tyler Steen goes, when he stepped in in the middle of that game when Mehki went down, I thought he played a really good game. There was a long run by Saquon that he and [T] Lane [Johnson] were having a combination block with [Giants DT Dexter Lawrence] 97. 97, obviously, is a phenomenal football player. And they combo him, Lawrence, to the linebacker, and Steen just has this perfect timing of when to get off onto the linebacker and leave Lane with Dexter Lawrence in the crease.
“And so that takes a lot of work together. That takes a lot of timing together, a lot of practice time together, to really fit that block properly. And so, just couldn’t say enough the guys and their work ethic, their faith in each other. I definitely see that within the offensive line. Hey, this guy is down; I got faith in the next guy. They constantly talk about it, and it’s awesome when it shows up on tape like that.”
Will the Eagles be okay with Steen taking over for Becton at right guard, especially considering he pretty handily lost the job in camp to the former Jet? Well, if he plays like he did in Week 7, it's safe to assume the Eagles will be very happy with either option when they take the field against the Browns.
