The Philadelphia Eagles will start two Alabama defensemen on Sunday

The Philadelphia Eagles will start the game with two defensemen Alabama on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Landon Dickerson he has served as Philadelphia’s left tackle since his rookie year in 2021, and has earned Pro Bowl recognition at the position over the past two seasons.

On the right guard, Tyler Steen will be the second start of his NFL career and first in the 2024 season. In Sunday’s games, Steen played 51 of the Eagles’ 66 offensive snaps 28-3 victory over the New York Giants when Mekhi Becton left with a concussion. Becton didn’t practice this week and won’t play against Cincinnati.

Steen also played 58 snaps, helping Becton with: 15-12 victory over the New Orleans Saints September 22.

“It takes a lot of mental toughness to not know when someone is going to call your number, but to be ready,” said Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni. “It speaks to Tyler, his mental toughness and his ability to prepare. I admire how he played in those circumstances and he did a lot of good things to help us win the match.

With Steen at right back, the Eagles will have their fourth starting forward line combination in seven games this season. Left fielder Jordan Mailata is on injured reserve with a hamstring issue, and Fred Johnson took his place against the Giants. Johnson also started at right tackle when Lane Johnson missed his fourth game of the season with a concussion.

“The emphasis from day one in the offensive zone is, whether you’re going to be the starter that day or not, that you’re going to prepare like a starter.” Dickerson said. “You will practice like a starter, treat everything you do as if you were a starter. It’s just a standard that we set from day one so that you know that when a guy goes down or gets hurt and the next guy comes in, you have trust and faith in him because on the offensive line you need all five guys to be on the same page and know how to the guy next to you is playing and what his thought process is, so from day one it’s just that mindset. It helps you see how things have gone this season with the guys, the fall, the injury, the guys have to step up.

Despite lineup changes, Philadelphia outgained New York by 269 yards. Quarterback of the Eagles Jalen hurts he threw only 14 passes and scored two touchdowns after stealing the quarterback. Philadelphia posted its best total since defeating the Green Bay Packers 40-33 on November 27, 2022, rushing for 363 yards.

“We moved the ball well on Sunday” Dickerson said. “I’ll be honest, we look at the numbers. There is effectiveness, it could be better. Looking at it from that perspective, we missed several goals in the running game. But overall, like I said last week, these are small changes that aren’t necessarily flashy or like something you could write an article about, but they are little things that we do in every meeting, in every practice, in every training, in any guide that helps us sort things out and get a little better.

“I think for us the game last weekend was a good thing that we could build on and win the game. Ultimately, it comes down to what we need to do on Sunday to win the game, whether that’s running, throwing the ball, or a combination of both. But you saw last Sunday that we were very successful in keeping the ball and that’s why we won.

The Eagles and Bengals will face off at noon CDT Sunday at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. The game was scheduled to be broadcast on CBS TV from Alabama.