Eagles’ Fred Johnson exchanges jersey with Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson

“I love you, brother.”

“I’m proud of you, dude.”

As he took off his jersey nearly an hour after his Eagles won, Fred Johnson pointed to a plastic bag at his feet containing a dirty white Bengals jersey.

“He gave that to me,” he said.

WHO?

“Trey.”

No kidding? They had shared a club for less than a calendar year, and Johnson was on his way out of Cincinnati when the Bengals brought in Trey Hendrickson, but he got Hendrickson’s game jersey?

Hendrickson was a $60 million defensive end in 2021. Johnson was an undrafted backup, a gigantic man but a project of an offensive lineman, in his third NFL season, with no guarantee he would ever see a fourth.

» READ MORE: ‘A bigger purpose:’ Inside Fred Johnson’s unlikely path to becoming a key Eagles offensive lineman

Actually, given the way the NFL works, this makes some sense. Hendrickson was a defensive starter, so he went up against Johnson, a backup, at every practice. That’s how they became friends. And so, after the Bengals waived Johnson in March 2022, Hendrickson followed Johnson’s path through Tampa Bay until the Buccaneers released him in November 2022. Johnson then went to Philadelphia, which placed him on the practice squad for the first time that month and signed him to a futures contract. contract through the 2023 offseason, after which he signed a two-year deal in September 2023.

Sunday could have been played last month. When Lane Johnson missed two starts earlier this season due to a concussion, Fred Johnson was the next man up, and when he played well in New Orleans, a redemption story had to be written the following week, only in Tampa. Only Fred Johnson gave up two sacks in Tampa.

» READ MORE: Jeff McLane: Have the Eagles found their offensive identity after pounding the Bengals? Jalen Hurts says he pushed for it.

However, when Jordan Mailata was lost to a hamstring injury two weeks ago, Johnson was the next man up, but he gave up a sack against the Giants in an uninspired performance. But once again a redemption story had to be written, this time on Sunday in Cincinnati.

And this time Fred Johnson was great.

No pockets. No fines. No kidding? No joke.

» READ MORE: Marcus Hayes: Jalen Hurts, in mismatched shoes, beats college rival Joe Burrow as Eagles win third straight since farewell game

It’s pretty amazing. Since the start of the 2020 season, Hendrickson has 60 sacks — only reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and 2021 DPOY TJ Watt have more — but on Sunday, Hendrickson never came close to Jalen Hurts. Fred Johnson played with a confidence that surprised even him. He couldn’t resist doing some cleaning.

As the Eagles buried the Bengals with 20, Johnson tried to get the attention of the coach who cut him.

“I was staring at Zac Taylor the whole time,” Johnson told a teammate, now brimming with redemption. “He wouldn’t look at me!”

To be fair, it wasn’t revenge on Taylor or familiarity with Hendrickson that helped Johnson have perhaps the best game of his six NFL seasons. He finally felt at ease.

» READ MORE: Eagles numbers vs. Bengals: Offensive snaps with Jalen Hurts at his best and Saquon Barkley over 100 yards

“I think I just built up some confidence,” he said. “That’s the only thing I didn’t have in the last game. You have to believe in yourself before anyone believes in you. Hopefully that can be seen on film.”

Johnson will be a free agent again after this season, and he’ll need a lot more film than just Sunday’s to convince GMs he’s more than a 6-foot-4, 326-pound obstacle. At least against one of the best in the industry, as it turned out on Sunday.

“He’s a great player. So hard (expletive),” Johnson said of Hendrickson. “Tough as (double expletive).”

They didn’t look cool when it was over. They looked human.

Then, after the hug and handshake, Johnson asked Hendrickson for the shirt off his back. There it came, with a final hug and parting words:

“I love you, buddy,” Johnson told Hendrickson.

Hendrickson responded, “I’m proud of you, man.”

Cowboy calamities

Jerry Jones’ son, Jerry Jr., his daughter, Charlotte Jones, and her son, Shy Anderson Jr., escaped significant injury when their vehicle was struck by a rising barrier outside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Anderson, who works in scouting, escaped unharmed, The Athletic reported, but Jerry Jr., who runs sales and marketing, suffered a minor head wound, and Charlotte, the team’s branding honcho, hurt her ribs, but both attended the match. Jerry Jones Sr. was in another car.

» READ MORE: Eagles secondary tackles Ja’Marr Chase and comes up with a big interception

In other news, as the Cowboys fell to 3-4, Dak Prescott threw two interceptions, Mike McCarthy coached terribly again, and cornerback Trevon Diggs left the postgame in the closed locker room to berate Dallas TV reporter Mike Leslie for posting a question on social media. on a particular play in which Diggs chased down a receiver. Specifically, Diggs invited the reporter to discuss Diggs’ genitals.

It was an innocent tweet, if ill-conceived: Diggs came across the field and saved a touchdown, and was perhaps right to be annoyed. But so annoyed that he left the locker room and sought out the tweeter?

This is a sign of a team falling apart. Leslie, meanwhile, wryly posted that he would not discuss the sensitive issue.

Another anomaly

The Chiefs moved to 7-0 despite the NFL’s best player Patrick Mahomes throwing a league-worst ninth interception and posting a passer rating below 100 for the sixth straight game. Imagine how delicious they will be when it stops smelling.

Mercilessly under fire

Sean Payton — the same guy who said last year that his predecessor in Denver, Nathaniel Hackett, did “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL” — delivered this beauty to undermine his own defense after the Broncos suppressed the Panthers: “It’s not a good offense we played. It’s just the truth.”

» READ MORE: DeVonta Smith’s improbable TD catch for the Eagles highlights a bounce-back day against the Bengals

Mom’s spaghetti?

Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon last week, giving Eminem Stan Jameis Winston a chance to prove he’s NFL-worthy after using the previous nine seasons to prove he’s not. Winston went 5-for-11 with a touchdown and no interceptions in relief in a close loss to the Bengals last week, then, in a start Sunday against the dangerous Ravens, went 27-for-41 with three touchdowns, including a final one – minute game winner for the 2-6 Browns. He told CBS interviewer Amanda Balionis, quoting the noted poet and philosopher from the gritty, eight-mile neighborhood that produced a film of the same name:

“He’s a white boy from Detroit who I really admire named Eminem. He said, ‘You only get one chance. Don’t miss your chance to blow. This opportunity only lasts once in a lifetime.” ”

Yes. Winston actually said this.

In a kind of reverse karma, now that they don’t have serial sex abuser Watson, the Browns got a huge break: On the play before Winston’s game-winning TD, Kyle Hamilton, the best safety in football, dropped an easy interception that would have clinched a victory for Baltimore.

Extra points

Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein, 36, missed a 44-yard field goal and an extra point — four points — in the Jets’ three-point loss to the terrible Patriots on Sunday. His six missed field goals lead the NFL. … After losing Super Bowl LVII two seasons ago, the Eagles lost offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, who became the Colts’ head coach, and DC Jonathan Gannon, who became the head coach at Arizona. Each is now 4-4 on the season. … Jared Goff has a passer rating of 154.9 in his last four games, but the balanced Lions haven’t needed him much: He’s just 70-for-83 for 970 yards, with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. … The Falcons may have found something in Kirk Cousins, whose four-touchdown game put Atlanta at 5-3 and atop the NFC South. The Falcons have defeated the Buccaneers at home and at home and the Eagles on the road.