October 19, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Jordan Mailata is trying to keep the Eagles from spiraling downward, but he can only do so much.
Jordan Mailata is trying to keep it together, the best he can, like he was taught by those who came before him to do.
But even the biggest, most stoic and one of the most veteran voices inside the Eagles locker room is finding out that talking about leadership and accountability – and then seeing it manifest – are two different concepts.
The Eagles lost their fourth straight game Sunday, offensively punchless in a 25-14 loss to the Panthers. They haven't dropped that many straight since the horrific 2020 season.
Their defense kept them in striking distance for much of the game, but penalties, an inability to create lanes for the run, a bad snap at the most inopportune time, and overall dysfunction that begged the Panthers to blitz them relentlessly made it feel almost impossible that the Eagles could really upset even an erratic Panthers team.
Until Sunday, the Eagles hadn't ever lost four straight games in the Nick Sirianni era – which began one year after the 4-11-1 mark in 2020 got Doug Pederson fired and Sirianni into the same seat.
Mailata had then just completed his first full season in the NFL. Now he's been to two Super Bowls and started 91 games.
"It's kind of crazy, yeah, we haven't been on a losing streak like this since, oh ....," the left tackle said. "To be honest, maybe I need to go meditate or something – and bring everyone with me."
And that's what it's come down to for Mailata and many of his teammates. Out of rational answers or solutions to explain the team's injury-aided nosedive into an under .500 squad that's been outscored 95-58 during the losing skid, reduced to repeating postgame platitudes about "accountability" and "want to" and "staying together."
The Eagles have entered uncharted terrain. They have averaged about 11 wins per season since Sirianni became head coach, and in those few turbulent patches they've encountered since, Mailata has observed and learned from teammates like Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelce, and Brandon Graham about how to stand tall while the world seemed to crumble around them.
But after this latest loss, in a quiet locker room, the 6-foot-8 Australian naturally stood tall. Those leaders aren't around anymore, and he's a captain – and doing his best to lead like one.
Before anyone could stick a mic in his face, Mailata walked directly to the center of the room, still wedged inside his dirty green jersey, eye black still freshly smeared across his face, and declared himself ready to talk.
"Gotta be tough," he said. "Gotta be able to face the music and be accountable. Stay together. No pointing fingers. Just have discipline, take accountability and own your mistakes."
But he also acknowledged the reality of the situation, that there is no substitute for the experience and know-how the Eagles are missing without Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Landon Dickerson, and a comically long list of other significant contributors sidelined by injuries – the "CVS" receipt, as Mailata bluntly described it – and the uncertainty about when or if they will ever be even close to full strength.
Mailata is trying to pick up the pieces, but the Eagles are a sinking ship, and he and the rest of his exasperated teammates are scrambling to find the life preserver their club desperately needs.
The 365-pound tackle is a mountain of a man, but around him the dam is breaking, and he's using every last ounce of energy to keep the loose boulder in place by himself.
"I would like to think I'm an optimist," Mailata said. "The message this week was pretty simple; maybe I need to change it. But where there is adversity, there is opportunity, and guys need to take that. We need to take that and run with that, that there is opportunity here."
Mailata isn't alone. In every crevice of the locker room was a teammate searching for an answer, but coming up empty.
Buried in his own stall, Cooper DeJean appeared to be undergoing an out of body experience upon realizing that he might never have lost this many straight games before, in anything.
"Very frustrating," the All-Pro DB said. "Um, yeah. I don't know. I don't think I've ever lost this many games in any sport I've played in a row. It's pretty frustrating."
"Obviously not to keen on this loss, but you know, we've got much work to do," offered defensive tackle Jordan Davis, limping his way toward the exit after being forced from the game with an ankle injury that required an X-ray.
Which became the perfect snapshot for what the Eagles have become – a limping, frustrated, losing team that only knows there's so much more progress that must be made, relegated to the same postgame refrains.
"Yes, we've seen position changes, retirements, trades, we've seen it all," Mailata said. "But again, it presents an opportunity for young guys to come out and make a name for themselves.
"It sounds bad but – so what, now what? This is the hand we've been dealt. We've gotta play with these cards. And yeah, I keep going back to where there's adversity, there's opportunity."
Right now, there's plenty of both, but not enough results, and no obvious rudder for this wayward ship.
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