The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Friday that star LT Jordan Mailata will be heading to injured reserve with a hamstring injury suffered against the Cleveland Browns Week 6.
After injuring his hamstring, Mailata stayed on the ground for while, before getting helped off the field by teammate Landon Dickerson and a trainer. He struggled putting weight on his left leg. After getting examined in the medical tent, Mailata was carted off the field. His injury seemed serious, so a trip to IR is not surprising. He will miss at least the next four games.
Backup swing tackle Fred Johnson got first-team reps at LT during individual drills in practice this week, and is expected to start against the New York Giants Week 7. As noted in our Eagles-Giants preview, Johnson has been very shaky in the three games the Eagles have needed to play him this season. Grain of salt, but PFF has him down for the following stats:
| Fred Johnson | Pass block snaps | Sacks | Penalties | Pressures |
| Saints | 33 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Buccaneers | 38 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Browns | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
By comparison:
| Eagles OTs | Pass block snaps | Sacks | Penalties | Pressures |
| Jordan Mailata | 185 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Lane Johnson | 119 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Fred Johnson | 76 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
If Johnson plays poorly as the starting LT, the Eagles also have the option of moving starting RG Mekhi Becton to LT, and having Tyler Steen fill in at RG. Becton has played over 1600 career snaps at LT.The Eagles' next four opponents, and who Johnson or another backup LT might have to face in those games:
- Week 7: Giants (Brian Burns)
- Week 8: Bengals (Trey Hendrickson)
- Week 9: Jaguars (Josh Hines-Allen)
- Week 10: Cowboys (Micah Parsons)
That's a formidable foursome of pass rushers.
With Mailata's move to IR, there's an empty spot on the Eagles' 53-man roster, which could be filled by S Sydney Brown.
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