Jordan Mailata didn’t hide from the shock of it. Not with Lane Johnson retiring Tuesday, and not with Cam Jurgens getting traded to the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday. In the span of 24 hours, two familiar faces disappeared from the Eagles’ offensive line room, and Mailata was left trying to absorb what that means for him, for the locker room and for a group that once looked like the backbone of everything in Philadelphia.
The left tackle called it a “Very brutal reminder of how cutthroat the league is,” and he didn’t soften the point. Players can be here one day and gone the next, and Mailata said that reality hit hard with Jurgens’ departure. Still, his attention is already on the Eagles’ Week 5 trip to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
“For the sake of the team, we’ve got to keep pushing forward. At least that’s how I’m thinking.
We’ve got a game to play in London, across the pond, and I can deal with this on my own time. When I’m at the building, push forward and be here for the boys,” Mailata said.
Before turning the page, though, he and Jurgens had their moment. Mailata said, “We shared a moment, Cam and I,” and then added, “Yeah, we cried.”
The news of Jurgens’ trade reached the offensive line in a roundabout way. After the Eagles informed Jurgens he was being dealt, he ran into third-round rookie Markel Bell and told him what happened. Bell then passed the news along to Mailata and the rest of the linemen, who left lunch to say goodbye to Jurgens, an Eagle since 2022.
“A lot of the guys know that this is just a business,” Mailata said. “It hurts. A lot of them are very aware that we’re hurting.”
That pain lands against the backdrop of what this unit built together. The Eagles’ offensive line powered the 2024 team to a Super Bowl title, and for years it was the engine behind the organization’s success.
Jurgens and Johnson were central to that run. Now Johnson is retired after four games into his 14th NFL season, and Jurgens is gone via trade, leaving the line looking very different from the one that dominated a year ago.
Mailata, though, isn’t willing to frame the move as the front office waving a white flag on 2026.
“No,” he said when asked if he believed the Eagles were “punting” on that season. “I’m just thinking about the next game, thinking about the next man up and pouring into them to get them ready for this week.
I can’t tell you that. That’s above my pay grade.”
The 2024 group - Mailata, Jurgens, Johnson, Mekhi Becton and Landon Dickerson - was widely viewed as one of the most dominant offensive lines in NFL history. Saquon Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards behind it, often with huge lanes opening in front of him.
Now Mailata is the lone starter from that line still starting. Dickerson is on injured reserve with a bone bruise in his right knee, and Mailata said he may never get his starting job back.
Asked what he would have said two years ago if told he’d be the last man standing, Mailata laughed at the idea.
“Yeah, you’re joking,” he said. “I’d be like, ‘Nah, what are you, a fortune teller?
Should I go buy a lottery ticket?’ You can circle my numbers if you predicted that.
It’s just a lot to process and again, you’re trying to figure out. Well, I’m trying to figure out my emotions because these are two guys that I’ve played a long time with. ...
“But then you got to wear two hats. One as a friend and then one as a captain of this team. And right now, I’m choosing to be a captain.”
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Jalen Hurts spent part of the week reflecting on two familiar faces no longer in the mix, acknowledging the departure of Cam Jurgens and Lane Johnson and thanking them for what they meant to the group. For an Eagles offense built on continuity up front, losing linemen who have been part of the everyday rhythm is never a small thing, especially this deep into the season.
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Lane Johnson Decision Sparked An Eagles Debate Fans Will Understand
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Stephen A. Smith only added to the controversy when he criticized the timing of Johnsons move, drawing a swift backlash from around the Eagles orbit. Former teammate C.J. Gardner-Johnson was among those who pushed back publicly, and the response was strong enough that Smith later apologized. Even in a league that rarely slows down for anything, this became one of those moments that reminded everyone how quickly a football story can turn into a bigger conversation about respect, judgment and where the line is when it comes to mental health. [Read more 🡒]