Eagles open the 21-day practice window for starting left tackle Jordan Mailata

Jordan Mailata, who has missed the last four games due to a hamstring injury, could make his return to game action soon.

The Eagles announced that they opened the 21-day practice window for the starting left tackle on Monday. He is eligible to be activated off injured reserve in advance of the Eagles’ Thursday night game against the Washington Commanders if the team decides he is ready to play.

Given that the Eagles will be holding walk-throughs instead of practices on a short week, coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday that they will have to “be creative” in order to get Mailata physically ready to go.

“There’s some different things we’ll do later in the week that will be a little bit more than a walk-through to help with that as well to get their bodies going,” Sirianni said. “So we’ll have to be creative with that, with Jordan. I think one thing that will be, even though we’re doing walk-throughs, we’ll still have some individual periods at times to get the guys going.”

Otherwise, the Eagles have the next three weeks to activate him. The team must free up space on the 53-man roster to do so.

The 6-foot-8, 365-pound Mailata injured his hamstring in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns while attempting to block for Saquon Barkley on a running play. Backup tackle Fred Johnson has started at left tackle in his place, conceding 14 pressures (including five sacks) in that span, according to Pro Football Focus. Before sustaining his injury, Mailata had allowed just eight pressures (including one sack) in five games, according to PFF.

“We’ll see where he is by the end of the week,” Sirianni said. “We don’t have to make a decision now. We have time. Excited that he has the possibility to be back. But, again, Fred’s done a nice job and we’ll play it by ear. If Jordan’s not ready, he won’t go. If he’s ready, he’ll go.”