PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 03: Jordan Mailata #68 of the Philadelphia Eagles walks off the field at halftime in the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field on December 03, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jason Kelce left behind some massive shoes to fill as the Eagles leader. Luckily, Jordan Mailata has big feet. Not just in the literal sense, though that is also true. Mailata has been with this team for a while now. They drafted him in 2018, and he has been their starting LT since 2020. He has cachet on this team and on this O-Line.
When Jason Kelce retired, the Eagles didn’t just lose one of the best Centers in NFL history, they lost their leader. Not just along the Offensive Line, but the de facto leader of the entire team. But Mailata seems primed to fill that void and is already stepping up to be the new leader.
Jordan Mailata Stepping Into Jason Kelce’s Shoes
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
He has been learning from Kelce that whole time. Now he thinks he is more than ready to be the leader Kelce was. He started that early in camp when he held the team, including himself, accountable for pre-snap mistakes. After an “unacceptable” first day, he and Cam Jurgens made their fellow offensive linemen run gassers. Even driving Mekhi Becton to puke.
The next day, reporters asked him why he did that. This was his answer.
“Just trying to maintain the standard. Everyone thinks it’s a joke, but it is something that we live by. It is unacceptable that we had 3 false starts yesterday. Including myself on the very first play of practice. There needs to be discipline to uphold the standard.”
Little mistakes in camp are going to happen. They haven’t played football since January. There will be rust. But Mailata is nipping it in the bud now before it becomes a bigger issue. If you let it slide in camp, suddenly it carries over.
Reporters went on to ask him how comfortable he feels being a leader now that Jason Kelce is gone.
“I feel very comfortable doing that. Anytime we do something like that, it is from everything that I learned from Jason. When something is not good enough, we have to correct it. Today we had no pre-snap penalties, which is great. It is all about maintaining the standard, and the standard was there before we even came here.”
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Most people think Cam Jurgens will be at the very least dependable as the team’s new center. It will be a downgrade, you don’t lose a future Hall of famer and get better, but I have not seen many people worried that Jurgens will hurt them at center.
The concern was what happens as about the leadership? Who will take Kelce’s place in that regard? It seems Jordan Mailata is already answering that question.
“It’s natural. I have had the best examples in the room. I know what it should look like. When we fall short, we just need something to pick ourselves back up again.“
Dylan MacKinnon is The Digital Content Coordinator For 97.5 The Fanatic. he has been an Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Flyers fan his whole life. He graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Dylan has worked at the Fanatic since 2016, starting as an Intern, moving to the Street team, and eventually was hired as an Associate Producer before settling into his current role in the Digital Department. You may hear him referred to on-air as "The D-Train."
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