Jordan Mailata’s journey, the Eagles clinch the division, and more ‘Hard Knocks’ highlights

It was a festive episode of Hard Knocks on Tuesday, as the HBO documentary series released its latest episode, which offered a behind-the-scenes look at the Eagles clinching the NFC East ahead of the holiday season.

The episode looked into offensive tackle Jordan Mailata’s journey from playing rugby in Australia to getting drafted to the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft, the Birds clinching the division, and more.

Here’s everything you missed from the latest episode of Hard Knocks:

Last Wednesday, before their Week 16 matchup against the Commanders, the Eagles held practice at Lincoln Financial Field. Without Lane Johnson because of a foot injury, Mailata continued to mentor younger players.

Eight years ago, he never would have pictured himself in this position.

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“I was 20 years old when I joined the International Player Pathway program,” Mailata said. “The program aimed to bring a connection between the NFL to the rest of the world and grow the sport in that respective spot that the athlete was from. So I thought, ‘Why not give it a go?’

“[When I was] drafted by the Eagles with a seventh-round pick, I was kind of, like, flabbergasted. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I knew that a team was taking a chance on me, a kid that never played football before. ... I can’t believe I’m still here playing this game eight years later. In my eighth season, still trying to figure this thing out.”

Now, Mailata has become a crucial part of the Tush Push, earned second-team All-Pro honors, is a Super Bowl champ, and a proud member of the Philly Specials — a Christmas music group consisting of himself, Johnson, and former Eagles center Jason Kelce.

With a 29-18 win over the Commanders, the Eagles became the first back-to-back NFC East champs since 2004. After the game, the team unboxed some early Christmas presents and expanded their wardrobe with new NFC East championship hats and T-shirts that read, “Been there, won that.”

Of course, the win didn’t come without drama. With the Eagles leading, 29-10, late in the game, Nick Sirianni made the decision to go for a two-point conversion. At the end of the play, a fight broke out between Washington and Philadelphia players — resulting in three ejections.

Adding more fuel to the fire, Eagles veteran Brandon Graham made sure to trash talk some of the Washington fans on the sideline.

“Aye, we got some new gear for y’all after the game,” Graham said. “We got some more gear for you. We got some Eagles gear for you after the game. Don’t worry, we got you.

After the game, the Eagles could be seen celebrating in the locker room with their new gear.

The Commanders will get a second chance at the Eagles to end the regular season. But before that, the Birds will travel to Highmark Stadium to face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

“Guys, we talk about doing special [expletive],” Sirianni said. “Winning the division is doing special [expletive]. Nobody has repeated in the division in [21] years, right. Y’all should be proud of that. You don’t do special [expletive] unless you’ve got the men in this room, the talent that we have, and that we play with great [expletive] detail, and we do that [expletive] together.

“We got a long way to go. Enjoy it now and we’re back to work. We got a lot to be thankful for.”

Jalen Hurts added: “Everything is in our hands. Control what we can, continue to stack, continue to build, continue to get more hats and t-shirts.”