Rollercoaster Ride Continues for Matt Pryor and Eagles Offensive Line

The team will use its 13th different OL combination in 14 games on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, an NFL record, and Pryor will try to settle at RT

Here we go again with the Eagles offensive line.

Another game, another starting lineup.

For those not scoring at home, Sunday’s game will mark the 13th time in 14 games they have had to use a different offensive line grouping. That is an NFL record, a grim one at that.

The latest installment will have Matt Pryor at right tackle after rookie right tackle Jack Driscoll became the sixth member of the offensive line to suffer a season-ending injury this year. Driscoll was placed on IR on Friday, joining Brandon Brooks, Andre Dillard, Jason Peters, Lane Johnson, and Sua Opeta.

Brett Toth will likely serve as the reserve tackle should injury strike at tackle on Sunday - and chances are something will. 

There is just no planning for something like that.

“I think that the young guys have really stepped up around here and played pretty darn well,” said center Jason Kelce, the only member of the original five starters to make it to Week 15’s game at the Arizona Cardinals. “Although we have not been great and we’ve had some games that have been very poor, in general, I think guys have gone in there and done a really good job

“Obviously, Jordan Mailata, the big rugby player, now he’s officially a football player. He went out there and has played really, really well. It’s always good to see a 6-9, 400-pound guy show you he’ll be a good player in the NFL. Those are kind of rare to see.”

That’s a slight exaggeration on Mailata’s size, though it’s close. He’s listed at 6-8, 346 pounds.

“It’s never discussed,” said Mailata when asked if the multiple line combinations are ever brought up by line coach Jeff Stoutland or anyone else during the week.

“It’s been the same message my last three years here, and that is next man up. That’s what I appreciate about this organization, it gives people an opportunity. But we don’t discuss it.”

Pryor will make his second start this season at right tackle. He started at the spot against the Seattle Seahawks last month and has also made six starts at right guard. That was after a training camp summer spent practicing at left tackle.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Pryor, who was a sixth-round draft pick in 2018, one round before Mailata was taken. “Some things were unexpected, some weren’t. At the same time, you’re supposed to take advantage of whatever opportunities you get and that’s what I’ve been trying to do all year.”

From left to right, the Eagles’ line will look this way against the Cardinals: Mailata, Isaac Seumalo, Kelce, Nate Herbig, and Pryor.

“I think the coaches do a great job trying to prepare the players for any situation like (this),” said Pryor. “Nobody expects that during the season, but you always have to expect the worst. It’s a very aggressive game. People get hurt things happen, so you just plan for the worst so you’re ready for it.”

The Eagles couldn’t have been overly impressed with Pryor’s play against the Seahawks at right tackle, otherwise they would not have turned to Driscoll once Driscoll was healthy from an earlier injury.

Pryor isn’t worried about that.

“I don’t have any issues with that,” he said. “I was disappointed in my performance. I feel like, it takes those games (to get used to it). I hadn’t played tackle in a while, and not in the last game at all, so getting that repetition in and re-adjusting to the difference between going inside and outside.”

The goal should now be playing well enough, and staying healthy enough as a line, to finish the season with some stability and cohesion up front.

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