Andre Dillard Expected to Start at LT on Monday Night

Starter Jordan Mailata suffered what is right now being called a knee sprain, but he was still being evaluated on Thursday afternoon

Ed Kracz | Sep 24, 2021

Andre Dillard Expected to Start at LT on Monday Night /

PHILADELPHIA – It was late in Thursday’s practice when Jordan Mailata had one of his legs rolled up during a pileup late in Thursday's practice.

The Eagles’ left tackle continued to practice, but afterward, told trainers he had some pain his one of his knees.

The Eagles are calling the injury a knee sprain, but he was still being evaluated on Friday as the team took the practice field. He did not practice and now, per NFL Media's Mike Garafolo, Mailata won't play on Monday night though the injury isn't expected to be long-term.

That means Andre Dillard, the former first-round draft pick, will be the starting left tackle when the Eagles travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys in a primetime Monday night matchup.

Already, the Eagles will be breaking in a newcomer on the line with rookie Landon Dickerson expected to make his first start in an important NFC East matchup for the Eagles, who turn around on a short week and host the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dickerson will be stepping in for right guard Brandon Brooks, who suffered a pectoral strain in last week's loss against the San Francisco 49ers and was placed on Injured Reserve, with a timetable to return unknown.

The injury news was a little better on RB Miles Sandes and center Jason Kelce.

Sanders was a full participant after missing Thursday's practice with a chest issue. Kelce (foot) was a limited participant after not practicing on Thursday.

Dillard lost the summer competition to start at left tackle after he suffered a knee sprain and missed a couple of weeks of training camp.

That injury helped pave the way for Mailata to be the starter. Of course, Mailata’s play did as well. He had clearly outperformed Dillard during the summer.

"They're both capable of being a starting left tackle," said Sanders. "That's what's good about this situation. I'm not worried about (Dillard) at all."

Just 24 hours before the Eagles opened their season in Atlanta, Mailata signed a contract extension that will keep him tied to the Eagled through 2025 that can be worth up to $80 million and guarantees him $40.85M.

“Andre obviously got injured during camp, so that kind of hurt him," offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland said last week. "He was doing well. I really mean that. He was doing well. I was very happy with some of the things that he was doing. Then he got hurt and it became like, oh man, here we go again."

It's here we go again for the Eagles' offensive line, too, just a season after injuries forced them to start an NFL-record 14 different offensive line groupings in 2020.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.

Published Sep 24, 2021

ED KRACZ

Ed Kracz has been covering the Eagles full-time for over a decade and has written about Philadelphia sports since 1996. He wrote about the Phillies in the 2008 and 2009 World Series, the Flyers in their 2010 Stanely Cup playoff run to the finals, and was in Minnesota when the Eagles secured their first-ever Super Bowl win in 2017. Ed has received multiple writing awards as a sports journalist, including several top-five finishes in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.