Eagles Get Some Help Back on Practice Field Wednesday

The Eagles didn't have Lane Johnson on the practice field on Wednesday, but they did have another one of their starting tackles back on the field after missing the past two games.

Jordan Mailata hurt his knee in practice ahead of the Dallas game and missed the past two games, was back on the field on Wednesday. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that Mailata would be limited at practice Wednesday, but stopped short of saying he could play against the Panthers this weekend.

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"He'll be limited today," said Sirianni. "So we're excited to get him back out there and get moving around. So look forward to seeing him here in walk-through in a little bit and then what he can do with his limited reps there today in practice."

While his return would be a welcome to the offensive line that is missing 4/5ths of their opening week starters. In his absence, former first-round pick Andre Dillard has played well at left tackle.

Also Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson, who missed Sunday's game with the Chiefs because of a personal issue, was not at practice today.

"He's still dealing with a personal matter," Sirianni stated. "Really not going to go any more further into that, I'm still going to respect his privacy. But he is not here today."

If Johnson is unable to go it will be interesting to see how the Eagles replace him on Sunday if Mailata is ready to play. They could just go back with Mailata at left tackle and use Jack Driscoll at right tackle or keep Dillard at left tackle for now and use Mailata at right tackle.

Sirianni didn't really give us any clues to what they might do at right tackle, but sounded like Mailata is closer to return.

"I think that, again, is a competitive advantage for us not to say where we're going to play guys, especially with Jordan back in the mix," explained Sirianni. "And there's more elements into it this week with some guys back, particularly Jordan, obviously. So, competitive advantage for us that we'll keep close to the vest for right now."