What's different about Steen in third attempt to win Eagles' right guard spot? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It’s not like Tyler Steen did anything wrong last year.
It’s just that when he hurt his ankle a few days into training camp, it opened the door for Mekhi Becton to become a guard.
And Becton never left.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously it doesn’t feel great when you get injured and you’re not able to be out there and compete during camp,” Steen said. “So I just kind of had to get past that, and once I got back, just focus on trying to get better every day.
“And then once the season starts, focus on preparing like you’re the starter. And then when the opportunity comes, you can take advantage of it.”
While Becton, the 11th pick in the 2020 draft, did reinvent himself as a guard after failing as a left tackle with the Jets, Steen did get some opportunities to play.
He replaced Becton early in the Saints game in Week 3 when Becton suffered a finger injury and then played most of the first Giants game and the entire Bengals game when Becton suffered a concussion. He also played the entire second Giants game, the meaningless year-end win.
Now, Becton is a Charger and Steen is back in the driver’s seat at right guard. He’s taken every 1st-team rep in the first five practices of training camp, so the job is clearly his to lose.
“He played a lot of football last year,” Jeff Stoutland. “You gotta realize he played like 450-something plays. So I think that helps a player develop confidence and he’s acting that way right now.
“We’ve identified some things (for him) to work on. Today (Tuesday) was a big day for Tyler Steen, in my opinion. He did some things that I’ve been talking to him about and he executed. He did a good job.”
Steen, a 3rd-round pick in 2023, just turned 25, so he’s still a young player. But you get the feeling this could be his final chance to win that elusive right guard spot. Cam Jurgens beat him out when Steen was a rookie and last year it was Becton.
“Extremely eager,” Steen said about his opportunity. “I mean, everybody wants to play. I want to play. I want to start. So, yeah, I’m pretty eager to do that.”
Steen knew if he was going to finally hang onto the right guard job, he couldn’t come back to training camp in the same shape as last year.
The Eagles this offseason signed veteran Matt Pryor and acquired veteran Kenyon Green in the Chauncey Gardner-Johnson trade, both to compete with Steen. Pryor has started 39 games and Green 23. But Steen — who has only started three — wanted to do everything possible to make sure he didn’t lose the job again.
So far, so good. But it’s still early.
“Really just tried to get stronger, work on my body, make sure I was going to be able to come into camp 100 percent and then just go from there,” he said.
“I think I focused on my body a little more. I think that was the only difference. I conditioned the same, worked out the same, most of those other things. And I think that helped me grow. It was a lot of mobility work and things like that.
“Lane does a lot of that really year-round. You see him doing a lot of mobility stuff before practice, after practice, in the weight room, in meeting rooms.”
Whoever winds up at right guard — and Steen is now the heavy favorite — will be looked at as the weak link on the best offensive line in football.
You have a 2nd-team all-pro at left tackle, a three-time Pro Bowl left guard, a Pro Bowl center and a six-time Pro Bowl right tackle.
And Tyler Steen.
“It helps so much because those guys have set such a high bar for the room and for the other guys in the room,” Steen said.
“I mean, it doesn’t get better than them. Like they’re the top of the league in what they do. And so setting that bar for everybody else in the room to strive for, I think it allows everybody to have something to push for and continue to work toward and strive toward.”
from NFL News, Scores, Fantasy Games and Highlights 2020 | Yahoo Sports https://ift.tt/oCek42b
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