Eagles ready for rookie Tyler Steen to show the world his crazy athleticism
It’s beginning to look like Tyler Steen might start at right guard on Sunday and his teammates are excited for him to get his chance
With Cam Jurgens back practicing but still on Injured Reserve due to a foot injury and Sua Opeta dealing with a hip injury, the possibility arose Thursday that rookie 3rd-round pick Tyler Steen could make his first NFL start Sunday when the Eagles face the Cowboys.
There appears to be an increasing likelihood that rookie third-round pick Tyler Steen will make his first career start when the Eagles host the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
At least that’s the way it looked and sounded on Thursday.
“I’m excited for him to show the world his athleticism,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “The dude is crazy, crazy athletic.”
Earlier this week, the Eagles activated the 21-day practice window for opening-day starting right guard Cam Jurgens, who has spent the last four weeks on Injured Reserve with a foot injury. But if Jurgens isn’t ready to play on Sunday, it’s looking like it’ll be Steen instead of veteran Sua Opeta.
Opeta has started the last four games but suffered a hip injury late in the second half against the Commanders. While Opeta did return for the second half, he missed the final six offensive snaps of the second quarter. And Steen finally got on the field for the first offensive action of his young NFL career.
It was just a little sliver of opportunity but Steen made the most of it. The Eagles scored a touchdown on that drive and the rookie didn’t look out of place.
“I thought he did great,” longtime center Jason Kelce said. “I don’t think he had one slip up when he was in there.”
Steen played those six snaps in the Eagles’ 2-minute offense and was tasked with blocking veteran Daron Payne and was also responsible for tapping Kelce as a part of the Eagles’ silent count on the road. He handled all those duties well, which didn’t surprise Steen’s teammates.
They’ve been seeing his improvement in practice over the first eight weeks of his rookie season.
“He’s been coming,” Kelce said. “You see him getting better and better out on the practice field. And I think that everybody is really, really happy and excited for him to be able to go out and play well. I think that his stock has been on the rise the last few weeks. He’s got a lot of interesting traits, man. He’s an athletic kid, has great feet, really good twitchiness to him, operates in space well.”
While Steen played left tackle at Alabama, the Eagles used him at right guard and left tackle at training camp this summer. The early thought was that he would challenge Jurgens for the starting right guard job but Jurgens won that competition before it ever really got started.
And when Jurgens went down in the first Commanders game, the Eagles went to the veteran Opeta and kept going to him. It’s worth noting that even though Opeta was a full participant on Thursday, it was Steen lining up with the first-team offensive line during the early portion of practice.
Steen, 23, was actually inactive for the first four weeks of the season. He didn’t begin dressing for game days until Jurgens got hurt. And in the following three weeks, his only NFL action came by way of 13 special teams snaps.
That’s why those six offensive snaps on Sunday meant so much to him.
“It felt pretty good,” Steen said. “I felt like the guys in the room and Coach Stout (Jeff Stoutland) do a great job of helping everybody prepare. When I was out there, I felt pretty ready.”
Both Mailata and Kelce praised Steen’s demeanor and ability to take tough coaching, which has been a staple from Stoutland since he arrived in Philly a decade ago. Kelce has noticed that Steen never makes excuses after a mistake. And as Mailata eloquently put it, Steen “takes a lot of s— from Stout.”
But Steen is coachable and has the thick skin to deal with it.
“It’s a pretty cool experience because Coach Stout, he wants all of his players to do well,” said Steen after being filled in on Mailata’s comments. “That’s where it’s coming from. It’s not coming from a place of malice. It’s cool.”
If Steen does indeed get the start against the Cowboys on Sunday, it could be a glimpse into the future. While Jurgens is still expected to be the Eagles’ starting right guard in 2023 when he’s healthy — perhaps just after the upcoming bye week — Steen could be the right guard of the future.
Because if Kelce does retire after this season, the obvious succession plan would be to move Jurgens to center and plug-and-play Steen at right guard.
We might learn a lot about that future on Sunday.
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