Johnson and Steen have worked together throughout Training Camp and the preseason with the second-team offensive line and that time together paid dividends on Sunday. Johnson made a pivotal block to help spring running back Saquon Barkley on his 65-yard touchdown run and then, for just a moment, reflected on a carer that started in Pittsburgh, continued in Cincinnati, stopped briefly in Tampa Bay, and then resumed in Philadelphia where he spent the second half of the 2022 season on the practice squad and then last season as a reserve who played just 35 snaps on offense all year.
Not since 2021 had Johnson started a game (with the Bengals), so he has stayed sharp despite almost zero live action.
“It’s been a long time since I played ball, what three years? I don’t know, y’all go look at the stats, three solid years since I played real snaps,” Johnson said. “After that touchdown with Saquon, I almost cried on the sideline. I’m not going to lie, I got emotional. I got real emotional because I thought I’d never be back in action. Everybody knows some of my story. This has been a long time coming and when I saw him run in and score I got real hype and I was just grateful for the moment and ready to go back out and do it again.”
Steen, a third-round pick last season, battled with Becton in Training Camp for the starting job at right guard, suffered an ankle injury, and stayed sharp while Becton started the first three games.
When he had his chance on Sunday, Steen made the most of it.
“It was obviously a little frustrating, whenever anybody gets hurt, especially when you as a player get hurt because you want to be able to show what you can do on the field and stuff like that,” Steen said. “Obviously, it was frustrating, but just knowing that my coaches and my teammates believe in me and just keep improving every day and keep trying to get healthy, so that was kind of my mindset every day.”
Same with Campbell, who caught 2 passes for 13 yards, playing 36 snaps.
“Parris had some good moments when he had to step in and play when guys went down and shuffling some things around,” Sirianni said. “He’s just a good person and a hard worker. Tough kid. He’s been through some ups and downs in this NFL journey. He knows that he’s got to take advantage of his opportunities when he gets them, and I thought he did some nice things.”
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