Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata sidelined with lower-back injury, is day-to-day
Mailata rebounded from a rocky start to camp and has played well in his second preseason.
Jordan Mailata missed his second straight practice Tuesday because of a lower-back injury, but Eagles coach Doug Pederson doesn’t think it will cost the offensive tackle a significant amount of time.
“Low back, with him, [we’re] just resting him,” Pederson said before Tuesday’s practice. “We’re going to get some more evaluation today and have an answer, but it should be fine. We just have to see after we get more results.”
Mailata rebounded from a rocky start to camp and has played well in his second preseason. Because of an injury to starting right tackle Lane Johnson, Mailata has been putting in extra work during practices the last few weeks.
He fills in for Johnson on the first team, takes his spot on the second-team line during team drills, and has been getting first-team snaps during preseason games at right tackle. His 191 preseason snaps are the most of any Eagle through three games.
The rugby convert from Australia has proven to be a quick study after essentially playing the sport for the first time weeks before being drafted in the seventh round by the Eagles.
“I think he’s made a lot of progress,” offensive coordinator Mike Groh said before Monday’s practice. “We are very pleased with the way that he’s been able to progress throughout the course of spring. In training camp a year ago at this time, he had never played football, or he played football for three or four weeks.”