The Eagles are one step closer to getting their face-masked singer back on the field. Jordan Mailata had his 21-day practice window opened on Monday, igniting a small spark of hope that the Pro Bowl left tackle could be ready for Thursday Night Football.
Jordan Mailata set to return to the Eagles soon
Mailata has already been added to the active 53-man roster yet his return in Week 11 remains a long shot due to the short practice week. More likely, the Aussie people-pusher returns in Week 12 to face the Rams. He has been out with a serious hamstring injury since October 16 when he left the locker room on crutches following a 20-16 win.
Fred Johnson has started all four games at left tackle in Mailata’s absence. The results have been borderline disastrous — Johnson owns a 52.6 overall grade (via Pro Football Focus), including 42.9 in pass-blocking. He’s committed four penalties while surrendering a league-high seven sacks on 397 snaps. Even so, the Eagles are lucky to have a capable veteran backing up one of the best left tackles in football.
“We are fortunate that our guys have done an excellent job of stepping up, next-man-up mentality, like we always say,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore told reporters on Oct. 22. “Fred [Johnson] did a really good job. He had a challenging matchup out there. He battled and fought. He was excellent getting to the second level in the run game. It’s huge.”
Remember, the Eagles have been dealing with injuries along the offensive line all year. The team has only had what was supposed to be their starting unit — Jordan Mailata, Lane Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Mekhi Becton, Lane Johnson — for two games. In addition to Mailata, Johnson and Becton have both missed multiple games. Kudos to Tyler Steen and Jack Driscoll for picking up the slack in crucial minutes.
“Coach Stout does a good job of rotating the guys at different spots. So I feel like we have good options there with our depth with Jordan [Mailata] out and Fred [Johnson] starting on the offensive line,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after beating the Giants in Week 7. “There’ve been a lot of guys. Mehki [Becton] has done it. So it could be a lot of different answers there. And that’s a good thing, that you have options.”
The Eagles are coming off a dominant 34-6 thrashing of the Cowboys in Week 10, thus extending their winning streak to five games. They own a 16.4 margin of victory during that crazed stretch, coinciding with Sirianni’s decision to shave his scalp and bringing their overall record to 7-2. Don’t look now … but, the Eagles and Vikings are tied for the second-best mark in the NFC.
“We know we got a tough game coming up,” Sirianni told reporters on Sunday after beating Dallas. “This one, we had fun in there for a little bit, but we know that we play on a short week against a really good opponent. And we got to get our minds right and we have to get our bodies right.”
Eagles injury report
The team also released its first injury report ahead of Thursday night’s clash with the Washington Commanders. Philly didn’t partake in an actual practice today, so the report is just an estimation, but the following players were featured with a designation:
DeVonta Smith – Hamstring
Nakobe Dean – Groin
Dallas Goedert – Ankle
Darius Slay – Ankle
Given the fact that the team is less than 24 hours removed from a win over the Cowboys on the road, practicing would simply not be a viable option. But this could be an indicator of potential limitations given the short week.
Dallas Goedert has only just returned to the team, while DeVonta Smith has been dealing with a hamstring injury for around a week now, overcoming some short-lived concern that he would miss the game against the Cowboys. Barring an unseen setback, all of the players listed on the report, who played on Sunday, should be good to suit up once more in a few days time.
The Eagles battle the Commanders in three days — Thursday Night Football, Nov. 14, 8:15 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field. This one will likely decide which team is the favorite to win the NFC East crown.
Mandatory Credit: Caean Couto-USA TODAY Sports
