Training Camp Thoughts Day 2: Mailata's Minute Turns South

We are in Year 3 of the Jordan Mailata experiment and it might be time for the Eagles to fish or cut bait

PHILADELPHIA - We are in Year 3 of the Jordan Mailata experiment and it might be time for the Eagles to fish or cut bait considering the team drafted a pair of Auburn tackles in the spring in Jack Driscoll and Prince Tega-Wanogho.

Mailata, 23, was always a project having arrived in 2018 as a seventh-round pick who never played a down of organized football.

His size - 6-foot-8 and 350 pounds - and athleticism intrigued the organization who kept Mailata on the back end of the roster as a rookie fearing the waiver wire. A balky back developed late in that campaign and became troublesome again in 2019. A Short stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list greeted Mailata this summer but the big Australian was ready to go when the pads came on.

There's been good and bad starting with Mailata getting first-team reps at left tackle when Andre Dillard got a little banged-up on Monday. On Tuesday, however, undersized rookie defensive end Casey Toohill, a seventh-rounder out of Stanford, used his speed to get under Mailata's pads during one-on-drills.

Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland didn't like the technique on display and took a little time to do a one-on-one with Mailata before saying do it again except Toohill promptly did it again.

Last year Stoutland groused at all the attention paid to one-on-one drills.

"Everybody wants to watch one-on-ones," said Stoutland. "That's like going to a gunfight with rocks. You are kicking backward and (the pass rusher is) running full speed. There's no threat of a run.

"So if you do well in a one-on-one drill consistently, you're really good. Really good because you're up against it. There's no draw threats. There's no screen threats. There's no run threats. it's just giddy up, let's go."

Maybe Stoutland saw something he liked when it comes to Mailata's technique. If not, time is running out with alternatives on hand.

HIGHTOWER'S HIGH NOTE: Doug Pederson likes to end his practices on a high note and it came today when Carson Wentz found the speedy Hightower down the ride sideline for a big-gainer. It was the second straight day that the fifth-round pick out of Boise State opened some eyes with his big-play ability down the field. During the less-competitive 10/10/10 Monday practice, Hightower snared a bomb from fellow rookie Jalen Hurts.

DEFENSE WINS THE DAY: While the offense was the talk of Day 1's 10/10/10 practice, which is not designed to be a competitive environment, the defense struck back on Tuesday with a three-interception day and could have added even more.

Jim Schwartz seemed to get aggressive, allowing his linebackers to attack and the result was some shaky mistakes by the offense.

Jalen Hurts had the first miscue in team drills with an overthrow in the middle of the field and fellow rookie K'Von Wallace playing center field.

Wentz was also victimized twice, first on a throwback screen to Corey Clement, which the veteran running back couldn't corral and tipped in the air, allowing Nate Gerry to race over and make the pick. The second was simply a poor throw by Wentz in the middle of the field with newly-minted safety Jalen Mills doing the honors.

New slot cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman also dropped an easy INT from Wentz, who later showed his frustration in red-zone work, throwing his helmet to the ground when a play failed to develop and resulted in a throwaway.

BRADLEY BRINGS THE NOISE: For the second straight day rookie Temple linebacker Shaun Bradley laid the wood to an Eagles pass-catcher. First, it was tight end Dallas Goedert on Monday and that was followed by a big hit on receiver Deontay Burnett near the end of practice Tuesday. The defense was so hyped up after Bradley's hit Doug Pederson had to step in to calm things a bit.

HURTS PACKAGE: Jalen Hurts got work with the second-team in the red-zone package and the Eagles spent the time working on some designed runs which may be the first "Hurts Package" we see in the regular season. The results were good early as the Heisman Trophy runner-up scored three TDs on the ground and then connected with Josh Perkins on another as the defense was reeling from the dual-threat.

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Get the latest Eagles news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of EagleMaven page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow @kracze on Twitter.