Aussie ‘monster’ Jordan Mailata bulldozes NFL opponents
Australian offensive tackle Jordan Mailata was back to his imposing best despite his Philadelphia Eagles being defeated 27-24 by the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Mailata put his enormous 203cm, 166kg frame to good use with two eye-catching blocks that lead to Eagles touchdowns and had tongues wagging on social media.
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With the Eagles trailing 7-0 early in the second quarter, Mailata bulldozed Chargers defensive lineman Jerry Tillery to create a clear running lane for Jordan Howard’s 4-yard rushing touchdown.
Jordan Mailata bringing Jerry Tillery to the endzone with him #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/0okOUigsps
— Matt Martellucci (@mattlucci12) November 7, 2021
Jordan Mailata is just a monster. He's been destroying the DE and LB in the run game the entire half. Howard easily scored behind him #eagles
— LeadVocals (@TheRealBobboh) November 7, 2021
Mailata just drove his guy to Citizens Bank Park
— Mike Gill (@MikeGillShow) November 7, 2021
Jordan Howard punches it in on third-and-goal. Jordan Mailata with a tremendous block. Dallas Goedert paved the way too.
Eagles and Chargers tied at 7.— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) November 7, 2021
The former South Sydney Rabbitoh showed his versatility midway through the fourth quarter, picking up a blitz that bought Jalen Hurts time to throw a 28-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.
Jordan Mailata’s block made this happen #Eagles https://t.co/ao8DqekXXA
— Marcus Hayes (@inkstainedretch) November 7, 2021
Strong block by Mailata
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) November 7, 2021
Jordan Mailata signals improvement
Earlier in the week Mailata had told reporters he was striving to find a balance between executing his blocking duties on both run and pass plays.
“Honestly I don’t really have a preference,” Mailata said.
“I love run blocking, but I also love pass blocking too. I think finding the balance it what is more important.
“I feel like in the run game you can impose your will. You can dominate the guy across from you and let them know what’s going on and show them I’m going to be the stronger guy today.
“In the pass game, it’s going to kill their ego. They’re not going to want to rush. I think it goes hand-in-hand.
“Offensive lineman always say ‘run the ball, run the ball’, but I’m just here to do my job and whatever they tell me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Prior to Sunday’s clash, Mailata had been battling a knee problem which required him to wear a brace in previous games.
The 24-year-old opted to remove the brace ahead of facing the Chargers and just play with strapping on his knee instead.
“I’m just trying to strengthen that knee without the brace,” Mailata explained.
“So what I’m doing is taping the knee with a lot of tape to try and keep the stability, have a little bit of strength, but also have that flexibility of being able to push off that knee.”
The loss to the Chargers saw Mailata’s Eagles drop to 3-6 on the season without a single win at home.
They currently sit in second place in the NFC East. The Chargers, meanwhile, improved to 5-3 and moved into top spot in the AFC West.
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