Impressive Eagles' Depth at LT is Being Tested
PHILADELPHIA - Jack Driscoll is the favorite to start at left tackle for the Eagles this weekend in Arizona but the door hasn’t been closed on either starter Jordan Mailata or projected backup Andre Dillard.
Mailata injured his shoulder while trying to chase down Andre Cisco during a pick-six in the 29-21 win over Jacksonville last Sunday and Driscoll, the third-year, jack-of-all-trades from Auburn via UMass, was forced to play left tackle for the first time in his professional career.
Driscoll persevered, especially in the running game as the Philadelphia offense piled up 210 yards on the ground in difficult weather conditions against the NFL’s No. 1 ranked rushing defense coming in.
“He’s always been a guy that is kind of like a swiss-army knife up front, playing guard, playing tackle, playing on both sides of the center. That’s what he is,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said when discussing Driscoll on Wednesday afternoon. “I made the comment to him after the game. I said, ‘that’s how you come in and play.’ He said ‘that’s what I do.’
“I have a lot of confidence in Jack, and I appreciate the confidence he has in himself. It comes from the work he puts in.
Moving forward, Mailata is likely going to miss some time although the Eagles may have dodged a bullet on the severity of the injury.
Philadelphia held a walkthrough practice on Wednesday and issued an injury report that was an estimation of what would have happened if the team had a conventional practice and Mailata was listed as a non-participant.
Mailata was also not spotted in the open-locker room period before practice.
“Hopefully it’s good news on the shoulder and not as serious as we thought,” All-Pro center Jason Kelce said.
Also in the mix is Dillard, who fractured his forearm late in the summer and was placed on injured reserve to start the season.
The Eagles designated Dillard to return from IR on Wednesday and now have a 21-day practice window to activate the 2019 first-round pick and place him back on the 53-man roster. That could come as early as this week but Nick Sirianni was hesitant with that timeframe.
“Just because we open the window doesn't necessarily mean - obviously we're to a point where we want to get him out there and practice, but he's different than the other guys in the sense of he's got to get into football shape,” the coach said. “He's been out of the game for the last month. He's got to get himself in a position where he can be able to play.
“So there's a little bit more - I don't want to say unknowns because there's unknowns with all the guys, but he's got an extra element, an extra hurdle to be able to clear.”
That leaves Driscoll as the leader in the clubhouse to get his first NFL start at left tackle in Arizona.
“If you’re going to play tackle in this league you have to be able to block in space, you have to be a good athlete, and you have to be able to move," said Kelce. "I think Jack has a lot of those things and he’s proven it on the right side. I don’t think in this era of football, the right tackle is like this big mammoth guy who doesn’t have to pass block anymore. You have to do it on both sides."
Driscoll has already proven himself to a degree on the right side and Kelce believes that should translate.
“Luckily, we have a really good one [at RT] in Lane Johnson, bBut the fact that Jack has done a really, really good job on the right side in pass blocking, a lot of times that will transition over and he’ll be able to do a great job on the left," said Kelce. "Between Jack, between Andre Dillard’s getting back, … I think there’s some good depth there at tackle."
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
