Get ready for another dose of Andre Dillard in Week 4. The third-year left tackle will man the starting spot again for the Philadelphia Eagles as Jordan Mailata recovers from a sprained knee.
The team hasn’t officially ruled Mailata out for Sunday, October 3, not on the injury report. But Dillard confirmed he would be starting when talking to reporters after practice.
Mailata is expected to miss at least three weeks and Lane Johnson indicated that the big Aussie could be out eight weeks. No need to worry, though. Dillard held his own in Week 3 and earned a 77.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
“I think I held my own out there, I think I did pretty well,” Dillard told reporters. “Just meaning that I finally feel good being back out there after so long.”
Eagles LT Jordan Mailata did NOT practice today due to his knee injury; Andre Dillard will start at LT vs Chiefs
S Rodney McLeod (knee) + Lane Johnson (ankle) are FULL Participants today at Eagles practice
Dillard added that his first start of the year felt “freeing” and he had no hard feelings toward Mailata for beating him out at training camp. He’s just taking it day by day and embracing his new role.
“There’s a reason for everything and I always told myself, ‘I’m on this team for a reason and I was drafted for a reason’ and, like I said before, I’m just embracing my role and trying to be a star in my role,” Dillard said. “And my role now is starting left tackle for this next game and I really just put everything I have into fulfilling that role to the best of my ability.”
Thursday injury report
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Movement on Injured Offensive Line?
Isaac Seumalo’s season-ending foot injury could send a ripple effect along the offensive line. Nate Herbig is slated to replace him at left guard for the time being, with rookie Landon Dickerson taking over at right guard for Brandon Brooks. All good there.
#Eagles are practicing. Who’s playing left guard? Who’s playing right guard? candidates are Landon Dickerson, Nate Herbig, Sua Opeta.
But what happens when Brooks returns from his pectoral strain? The Eagles could slide Dickerson over to left guard and put Herbig back on the bench. Or insert swing guard Sua Opeta into the mix. Remember, Brooks could be back in six to eight weeks. Head coach Nick Sirianni is staying tight-lipped about his future plans.
“Yeah, we’ve thought through every different scenario,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “At this time, I think it’s a competitive advantage for us not to discuss who’s going to play where, especially for this week. People will figure out who we’re playing where obviously after this week.”
Offensive Coordinator Talks Run Game
The ongoing debate this week has been in regard to the Eagles’ lack of a running game. Miles Sanders has been garaged, like Cameron Frye’s dad’s car in the movie Ferris Bueller.
Miles Sanders: “I do believe to have a successful offense you need to run the ball.” Firmly stands behind Sirianni and Hurts though. “On to Kansas City.” #Eagles
Sirianni has been asked about it in a thousand different ways. Now offensive coordinator Shane Steichen has chimed in on the mysterious run-to-pass ratio.
“Yeah, those are conversations we’ve had throughout the week,” Steichen told reporters. “RPOs do help us, but sometimes when we want to run the football, we do have called running plays. And so, we got to keep looking through those things and getting better at it.”
#Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen: “We’ve got to be efficient. We’ve got to run it. We’ve got to throw it.”
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Eagles List 7 Players on Injury Report, Key Starter Ruled Out