'Touchies' And The All-Clear: Inside the Eagles' Handling Of An NFL Point Of Emphasis

The illegal formation scourge hasn't really affected the Eagles. Here's why:

Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata (68). / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - One of the major points on emphasis in the always over-legislated world of the NFL has been about where the offensive tackles have been lining up.

For whatever reason, a league that always craves the offense that generates interest and the trickle-down effect it provides to the bottom line of popularity decided too many OTs around the league were cheating on their stances a little too much.

And some (We’re looking at you Jawaann Taylor) were starting to look like wing defenders in special teams protection packages. Ironically, it started on opening night when Baltimore visited Kansas City and veteran Ravens stalwart Ronnie Stanley became the first example.

The citation book was out and the officials were like the cops in a financially flailing small community where the light bulb went off for the decision-makers was quota.

That’s the low-hanging fruit of the unimaginative who are insulated by forcing the middle man to play the bad guy and become the public face of the unpopular legislation.

The illegal formation is a story in the NFL for now right up until it’s scaled back when some Montgomery Burns-like arbiter in a power suit with the red tie signals that’s enough and loosens the reins.

According to NFLRefStats.com there have been 54 illegal formation penalties called through Week 3 and 35 of those were accepted. To better put that in context, there were 59 illegal formation penalties called throughout the entire 2023 season, including the playoffs.

The Eagles’ formidable OT duo has not been affected by the crackdown all that much so the idea this week was to reach out to Jordan Mailata and ask why he and Lane Johnson have handled the breave new world better than most.

Johnson was unavailable to reporters this week as he navigated through the league’s concussion protocol after suffering a head injury against New Orleans.

“I guess, Lane and I are very cautious on that,” Mailata said. “We get the warning [from the line judge or the opposing down judge] and as soon as we get the warning – because we try to not get the warning – [we move up].”

The idea is similar to receivers who need to be lined up correctly and look to the officials for the OK.

Mailata, who has tremendous athleticism and movement skills for a 6-foot-8, 365-pound man, errs on the side of caution.

“[Watching] film, I'm further [up] than [left guard] Landon [Dickerson] now. Like I get up because I don't want to hurt the team,” said Mailata. “We talk about controlling what you can control and the tackle depth is one thing that can be controlled.”

Mailata then used another reporter to explain where his foot would be in concert with Dickerson's but the size of his Crocs next to an average-sized adult essentially dimmed that experiment.

A former Australian rugby player, Mailata still likes to call the officials he gets the go-ahead from “Touchies.”

A touch judge in rugby is an official who monitors the touch-line in a game and raises a flag if the ball (or player carrying it) goes into touch. Touch judges also stand behind the posts to confirm that a goal has been scored following a penalty kick or conversion of a try.

“I know I'm breaking [Landon's foot]. I look at the touchie, short corner sideline. He's the touchie. So we call those in rugby [sideline officials] touchies. ... I look at him at like a receiver, and I'll point good, and I'll get set."   

The final piece to the puzzle is a weekly meeting with assistant GM Jon Ferrari, the organization's rules and compliance expert.   

 Just like the teams that are on the schedule, the Eagles pay close attention to the weekly referee assignments because each crew has its tendencies. Philadelphia and Tampa Bay drew veteran referee Carl Cheffers in Week 4 and it's part of Ferrari's job to brief the team on what to be on alert for in a Cheffers-led game using the referee's history as a barometer.

Cheffers is good news from an illegal formation perspective. He and his crew are one of three that haven't been moved by the point of emphasis and have not called even one illegal formation penalty, joining the crews led by John Hussey and Tra Blake. The opposite end of that spectrum are the groups being led by Land Clark, Shawn Hochuli, and Alex Kemp, who are leading the enforcement brigade.

The idea by the Eagles is to get information like that to the players to leave no stone unturned.

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