‘Wave after wave’: Another key injury, this one to Jalen Hurts, will test how the Eagles handle adversity

Jordan Mailata sang as he walked toward his locker stall after Eagles practice on Thursday.

Wave after wave, wave after wave...

The chorus of “Waves” by Mr. Probz came from Mailata’s mouth. It was an apt refrain for the day, for the week, for the past five weeks. On the day the Eagles faced another injury, this one to starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who will miss at least Sunday’s Week 6 game due to a blood clot in his leg, Mailata was asked when the waves might subside.

“Honestly, I can’t answer that,” Mailata said. “I wish I could tell the future. I’d love to tell you. However, this is the nature of the league and we just have to pick ourselves up, keep pushing on, keep preparing the next guy up. Stoked for Tanner [McKee]. Stoked for Cole [Payton]. Cole was just playing special teams last week and now he’s QB2, just like that. Isn’t that crazy how the league works?”

It is crazy. For this Eagles team, it has become normal at a rather rapid pace. There were jokes made Wednesday on social media that the Eagles’ 24-player injury report looked like a CVS receipt. Then came the Hurts news on Thursday.

Mailata on Sunday called last week the “week from hell” after a stunning last-second loss capped a week that saw his two teammates and close friends, Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgens, leave the team.

“I think I was a little early,” Mailata joked on his label for last week. “I might’ve jumped the gun on that one.”

The offense has taken the brunt of the injury bug. Sunday’s Eagles starting lineup could look more like a team playing in a preseason game instead of a 2-3 team desperate for a win and in need of much more offense. Saquon Barkley (hamstring) still isn’t practicing. DeVonta Smith (hamstring) returned in a limited capacity on Thursday, but Dontayvion Wicks (hamstring) was downgraded from a limited participant on Wednesday to a non-participant on Thursday.

» READ MORE: Tanner McKee’s first high-stakes moment as Eagles starting quarterback comes Sunday: ‘You have to be ready’

Drew Kendall was back on the practice field and could be in line to return as the starting center on Sunday, but unless Landon Dickerson is ready to return from injured reserve, the offensive line will feature just two of its Week 1 starters.

“All I can think about is, as much adversity as we’ve handled, it also has created so much opportunity for our young guys,” Mailata said. “So that’s what I keep focusing on. I can’t control what happens. I can’t control what has happened. I can only control my feelings and my direction, and my direction is preparing the next guy up. That’s all I think about when it comes to the news about Jalen, the news about Lane, the news about Jurgy.

“Pouring into Tanner McKee, pouring into Willie Lampkin, pouring into Jake Majors, Markel Bell, that’s all I think about.”

Linebacker Zack Baun said his primary concern with all the injuries, including the latest to Hurts, was that the players take care of themselves and get healthy.

But the Eagles continue to not use the injuries as any excuse for their three-game losing streak.

“The bar doesn’t go lower because we have injuries or second- or third-string guys in there,” said Baun, who missed Week 4 due to a concussion. “It doesn’t lower the bar. The standard is the standard.

“It doesn’t matter who we have out there. We got to be able to compete and play at a high level, because everyone is sitting in the same meeting rooms, everyone should be preparing the same.”

Next man up is the mantra these locker rooms live by, but it’s a credo being tested inside this one as the weeks mount.

“You have to buy into it just like buying into this game,” Mailata said. “You have to buy into being the next man up, but it starts when you’re not the starter. It starts with how you attack the meeting room. Are you taking efficient notes like a starter?”

» READ MORE: What's a superficial blood clot? Jalen Hurts has one in his calf.

Mailata raved about his own abilities as a note-taker. Former offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, he said, drilled that characteristic into him.

Mailata dealt with a lot last week as both a human and a teammate. He was sad to lose two friends, but also had to prepare their replacements to play. He reflected on all of that and then showed back up at the facility this week carrying with him a promise to bring energy and enthusiasm and to “pour into” his younger teammates.

Then Thursday came.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Mailata said.

Few were, but the shock of another starter going down couldn’t have been that surprising at this point.

“It’s kind of what we’ve been dealing with all year,” said Dallas Goedert, who missed Weeks 3 and 4 with a knee injury.

In that regard, Darius Cooper, one of those next men up, said Nick Sirianni’s message to the team is the usual one.

“Fundamentals,” Cooper said. “Tough, detailed together. Nothing has changed. We’ve got all that we need.”

Listen to the latest episode

The Eagles are back from London, looking to leave the disappointment of a last-second defeat behind while choosing instead to focus on lessons they can learn from a third straight loss. And you know what? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane actually thinks there were encouraging takeaways from the game, outcome aside. He and Mike Sielski discussed why the Eagles’ sky, despite being gray, isn’t falling just yet, and what the team can build on to if it hopes to reverse its fortunes during a key stretch of the schedule that begins Sunday.  Listen here.

Listen to all episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.