Patchwork Eagles O-line performs admirably despite ‘week from hell’
Most of the names are not familiar yet to Eagles fans, but an inexperienced trench group acquitted itself well in London.
LONDON — Jordan Mailata said it best.
Shortly after the Eagles’ stunning loss to the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Sunday — a last-second defeat that happened because of a questionable kicking decision — Mailata spoke candidly about what he and his fellow linemen had to endure in the days leading up to the game.
“This week has been a week from hell,” Mailata said.
No kidding. The week began with legendary tackle Lane Johnson’s surprise retirement on Tuesday. Cam Jurgens was traded one day later. Drew Kendall (knee) unexpectedly popped up on the injury report that same day. The Eagles then had to fly to London just 36 hours before kickoff — a decision that had its logic — though Mailata did acknowledge he was “tired” in the postgame locker room.
They got a scare mid-game too, with starting guard Tyler Steen exiting for one series due to injury.
Willie Lampkin, making his first NFL start, was in for Jurgens. Jake Majors, making his NFL debut, was in for Kendall. Rookie Markel Bell was in for Johnson. Fred Johnson was in for Steen. In other words, at one point the Eagles had just one of their five starting offensive linemen from Week 1 in the game.
Mailata, the lone veteran in the room, praised them following the 19-17 loss.
“I was very proud of our offensive line in today’s game,” Mailata said. “We continued to grow. Through it all, through the bad, the good and ultimately put ourselves in the position at the end there to win the game, and unfortunately, we fell short.
Lampkin and Majors were especially impressive on Will Shipley’s second-quarter touchdown. Lampkin sealed Jaguars defensive tackle Matt Dickerson to create the hole, while Majors nearly drove Arik Armstead into the turf.
In total, the new-look Eagles line gave up just one sack for 10 yards, five tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and 10 pressures. Not perfect, but not bad for such a patchwork unit.
“I’m very proud that they didn’t make the moment bigger than it is,” Mailata said. “I learned very quick early on, the tempo and speed on an actual game day. I was very proud for them making their debut today. Hopefully we can learn from tonight.”
This is clearly not the Eagles O-line of yore. The group is wildly inexperienced aside from Mailata, and there will be growing pains. Case in point: Lampkin gave up four pressures in the first half alone.
It’s clear the staff is still learning to trust them, too. On their first offensive series, the Eagles had a fourth-and-1 at Jacksonville’s 37-yard line — a scenario that in years past would have been an automatic Tush Push call thanks to their dominant O-line.
This iteration of the Eagles lined up in shotgun and failed to convert.
Now, Mailata said, it’s time to turn the page. The new linemen have a game of experience under their belts and are unlikely to experience another “week from hell” in consecutive weeks. How do they move on from such a trying seven days?
“Watch the film, move onto the next one,” he said. “That’s it.”
Nick Sirianni praised the unit’s “mental toughness” in his postgame press conference.
“I think you have a team that’s together, and I think you have an extremely mentally tough, physically tough football team that fought and played their butts off,” Sirianni said. “You know, those are the positives, right?”
