LONDON - Jordan Mailata didn’t try to dress it up after the Eagles’ 19-17 collapse against the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. For him, Sunday night was the end of a miserable stretch, not some neat little silver lining.
The Eagles lost on a last-second field goal, but the result landed on top of a brutal week for Mailata personally. Right tackle Lane Johnson retired on Tuesday, then left guard Cam Jurgens was traded on Wednesday. By the time Philadelphia took the field in London, Mailata was dealing with a line that looked nothing like the one he knew.
“I don’t even know what that means now,” Mailata said when asked if the narrow loss could count as a moral victory. “I don’t even know what that means now.
I don’t even know. Like, my brain hurts.
This week has been a week from hell for me.”
Sunday was the first time in Mailata’s career that he played without Johnson and Jurgens on the roster. He made it clear that the change hit him hard.
“I mean, mate, what do you think?“ Mailata said about what is weighing on him.
”Everything. It’s just everything.
You got one of the greatest tackles to ever play this game retire. Trade.
You’ve got to deal with everything. As it comes to two of my best friends, they’re not on the same team anymore.
I’ve got to do a better job. ... Just gotta just be better.
But I think it’s self explanatory, to be honest."
Philadelphia had to patch together the front five against Jacksonville. Practice-squad call up Jake Majors started at center, second-year undrafted free agent Willie Lampkin filled in at left guard, and rookie Markel Bell took over at right tackle for Johnson. Drew Kendall, who normally starts at center, missed the game with a knee injury and is expected to get his job back once he recovers.
The Eagles’ line, once one of the league’s most feared groups, now looks like a unit in transition. The youth was obvious against the Jaguars. It wasn’t a disaster, but it also wasn’t close to good enough.
Mailata still found something to like in the way the newcomers handled themselves.
Philadelphia’s offensive line had its rough patches, but Mailata said he appreciated the poise the young players showed when the game went sideways. They didn’t get rattled, even when the moments got ugly.
That description could fit a lot of the Eagles on Sunday. They were stuck in a game where the offense managed only three points in the second half, the defense gave up big plays late, and special teams surrendered the 53-yard kickoff return that set up Jacksonville’s winning field goal with one second left. Even Nick Sirianni is in the mix after a performance like that.
Mailata, though, kept coming back to the same idea: the Eagles have to decide what comes next.
The season can go one of two ways from here. The noise from the first five weeks can spill into what comes next, or the team can stop the slide before it gets any worse.
“Actually very, very excited and very high on the team right now because I think more than ever, defense picked us up not just on the field, but with everything we went through this week, they picked us up off the field and we did link arms,” Mailata said. “And I think moving forward, we’re linking arms even more now.”
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