Eagles Start Practice Window For Star Left Tackle

Jordan Mailata could return as early as Thursday night against Washington.

Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata (68) looks on after a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles are riding high after their fifth consecutive, and things should be getting even better shortly after the team opened the 21-day practice window of star left tackle Jordan Mailata on Monday.

Mailata has missed the previous four games after suffering a significant hamstring injury in the Eagles' 20-16 win over the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 13.

The big man can return as soon as Thursday night for the first-place showdown between Philadelphia (7-2) and the Washington Commanders (7-3). However, the Eagles do not have a full-scale practice during the short week so the more likely return date remains the Nov. 24 game at the Los Angeles Rams after a mini-bye and a full week of practice.

That said Mailata has reached the deference stage with his play on the field and his meaning off of it as a team leader.

If the seventh-year pro is cleared to play in such an important game, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland would likely feel comfortable playing Mailata off of the two walkthrough practice sessions scheduled for this week.

Mailata started his rehab on crutches and quickly ditched them while wearing a large compression sleeve on his left leg to help deal with the injury. He has been watching OL drills at practice for the past two weeks and often stops into the locker room while reporters are there.

Mailata told Philadelphia Eagles on SI that he believed the injury had been building through the course of the game against the Browns. He said he felt something twinge on the game's first field goal, Jake Elliott’s 49-yard connection nearly two minutes into the second quarter.

He felt it again when he tried to track down former Eagles safety Rodney McLeod after Myles Garrett blocked a field goal late in the first half and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. Again, Mailata wasn’t concerned.

Late in the game, however, when he was trying to make an extra block at the second level on a running play, he felt the hamstring go, saying, “he felt like he had been shot.”

In Mailata's absence, backup left tackle Fred Johnson has done an admirable job as the next man up against some significant pass rushers like the New York Giants' Brian Burns, Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson, Jacksonville's Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, and Dallas' Micah Parsons.

Philadelphia does need to help Johnson far more than Mailata, however, and the offense feels it's a luxury to keep its offensive tackles on an island.

Mailata is the third-highest graded OT in the NFL by Pro Football Focus behind only San Francisco's Trent Williams and Detroit's Penei Sewell. Eagles' All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson is No. 7.

MORE NFL: Commanders-Eagles: Little Prep Time For Jayden-Jalen 1.0 Is A Shame