For essentially a decade, the Eagles went as Lane Johnson went. If the All-Pro tackle was in the lineup, the Birds always had a fighting chance. If he was sidelined, the team frequently faltered. That's still true of Johnson, who has missed time this season, but opposite him at left tackle on the team's offensive line, that may ultimately become true of star Jordan Mailata.
Mailata has not practiced this week since leaving this past Sunday's game against Cleveland with a hamstring injury. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday that Mailata would miss a "couple" weeks. TBD what that timeline truly looks like, but Mailata was helped off the field, carted to the locker room and after the final whistle, was seen on crutches:
This was #Eagles LT Jordan Mailata walking off the field after spending time with some of the other players and family members. Mailata was ruled out with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Fred Johnson. pic.twitter.com/tU6LGGkJ0J
— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) October 13, 2024
The Eagles have been uneven in 2024, but Mailata has been awesome. He's PFF's No. 1 ranked pass-blocking offensive tackle six weeks into this season. In 323 snaps at left tackle, he's allowed just seven hurries and a single sack. Mailata can be a mauler, too, as he's PFF's eighth-ranked run-blocking OT as well.
This week in practice, as our own Jimmy Kempski writes, Fred Johnson has been filling and getting those first-team left tackle reps with Mailata out. Johnson looked capable during the summer with the reps he received, but he, nor anyone in the NFL really at this point, is Mailata.
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How long could Mailata be out with the hamstring injury he's currently dealing with?
Dr. Dinesh Dhanaraj, an orthopedic surgeon at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, offered his perspective.
Dr. Dhanaraj notes the three grades of injury: grade one, which is a stretch, grade two, which is a partial tear and grade three, which is a full rupture.
"If they knew it was a rupture off a tendon insertion, they probably would not say a 'couple' weeks. It would be, 'Hey, he's going to need surgery.' It sounds like it's more of a significant injury than that grade one stretch. It could be a partial tear or even kind of a rupture in the muscle belly and those things do heal, but it's not unheard of to have anywhere from three-to-six weeks [of recovery time] with those."
While things are up in the air, what remains true is that the Eagles can't get Mailata back out there on the field healthy and ready soon enough.
After publication of this article, the Eagles announced late Friday afternoon that they have placed Jordan Mailata on IR, meaning he will miss a minimum of four game.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and guest authors and do not reflect any official policy or position of any NFL team or a team's athletic physicians.
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