Exploring Eagles’ options with Mailata expected to miss multiple games

Exploring Eagles’ options with Mailata expected to miss multiple games originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata injured his hamstring in the fourth quarter on Sunday against the Browns and will miss some time.

Mailata was seen after the game using crutches and with a sleeve on his left leg. Mailata is expected to miss multiple games.

“It looks like Jordan’s going to be out a couple weeks,” head coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday. “We’ll see exactly how long it’s going to be. I don’t have that information yet exactly, all that. But Jordan is busting his butt to try to make a play and unfortunately that happened.”

While Sirianni said “a couple of weeks,” that might not literally mean two. But the fact that Sirianni was even willing to talk any type of timeline — something he normally avoids — is notable. The good news is that it certainly doesn’t appear to be a season-ender for Mailata. As for Darius Slay (knee) and Dallas Goedert (hamstring), Sirianni didn’t have any updates.

The Eagles play the Giants and Bengals on the road the next two weeks and it seems very likely they’ll be without Mailata for those games and perhaps more.

So what are the Eagles’ options?

“Everything is on the table,” Sirianni said. “We’ve got some good ability to do different things because of the roster that Howie (Roseman) and his staff have built and the flexibility Coach (Jeff) Stoutland coaches the guys up with to be able to be multiple at different positions. Flexibility is there. We’re early on in the process and we’ll figure that out as the week goes.”

Really, the Eagles have two top options for how to replace Mailata and the route they choose might be determined by how long they expect him to be out.

Here are the those options:

1. Play Fred Johnson at left tackle

This is pretty straightforward. Johnson is the Eagles’ backup swing tackle and he came in the game on Sunday to play the final 13 snaps in the win over the Browns. This option would simply be a 1-for-1 change in the lineup, which is typically the way Stoutland prefers to operate.

While Johnson, 27, held his own on the 45-yard touchdown pass on a mesh concept to DeVonta Smith, he did give up 2 pressures on 5 pass blocking snaps against the Browns, according to ProFootballFocus. For reference, Mailata didn’t give up a single pressure in 22 pass blocking snaps in the game. Of course, there’s a reason Mailata is the starter.

Against the Buccaneers in Week 4, Johnson started at right tackle in place of Lane Johnson, who missed the game with the concussion he suffered in Week 3 in New Orleans. Fred Johnson was better in the run game than he was in pass protection against the Saints and Buccaneers.

In Weeks 3 and 4 and right tackle, Fred Johnson played 71 pass blocking snaps and gave up 16 pressures, 12 hurries and 2 sacks, per PFF. He definitely came back to Earth a bit in his start against the Bucs.

Johnson (6-7, 326) is a favorite of his teammates and after being on the path of a journeyman a few years ago has found a home with Stoutland and the Eagles. Last year, Johnson was the backup left tackle, while Jack Driscoll was the backup right tackle. This year, Johnson has been the backup at both spots.

2. Play Mekhi Becton at left tackle and Tyler Steen at right guard

If Mailata’s injury keeps him out more than just a couple games or if option No. 1 doesn’t work well, the Eagles could move a couple pieces around. They could move Becton from right guard to his more natural position at left tackle and replace him with Steen, who was initially the favorite to be the starting right guard in 2024.

Typically, Stoutland would prefer to make 1-for-1 swaps when there’s an injury. But he also always says it’s important to get the five best offensive linemen on the field together. It’s possible this would give the Eagles their best five.

While Becton didn’t completely live up to his first-round draft status in New York, he did start 30 games as a tackle with the Jets and did have some success. And at 6-foot-7, 363 pounds, Becton clearly has a more typical tackle frame. Becton has been solid at guard but there’s a chance he’s a bigger upgrade over Johnson at tackle than he is over Steen at guard. That’s the argument for this option.

Because although Steen lost the starting right guard spot this summer, the only reason the door opened in training camp was because he injured his ankle on Day 3 and then Becton didn’t give that spot back. Steen had to play against the Saints when Becton injured his finger and the former third-round pick performed well. In fact, in 43 pass blocking snaps this season, Steen hasn’t given up a single pressure.

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