Australian man-mountain Jordan Mailata leapt to the defense of teammate Jalen Hurts following an ‘egregiously awful’ late shot from New York’s Quincy Williams during the team’s first preseason game ahead of the season proper, which gets underway September 9 AEST.
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Mailata, the Eagles left tackle who signed a four-year $89 million extension last season, stormed over to the sideline to confront Williams, in a hit that even had New York coach Robert Saleh less than impressed.
The incident, which happened in the first quarter, saw Hurts forced to scramble towards the sideline on a third-and-5 play for no gain.
With Hurts clearly heading for the sideline, Williams charged at the Eagles quarterback hitting him late with his helmet down as Hurts crossed the white stripe.
That prompted a heated reaction from Mailata and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, who seemed to shout the words “what the f— Saleh?” with the Eagles awarded a 15-yard penalty which ultimately led to them scoring the opening touchdown of the game.
NBCS Philadelphia journalist Dave Zangaro wrote post match: “Jordan Mailata said he was “seeing red” when Jalen Hurts took that shot on the sideline. He wouldn’t repeat what he said at the moment.”
Jets coach Saleh admitted to reporters after the game that it was a bad look and something Williams needed to address.
“Egregiously awful by Quincy,” Saleh said. “He knows that. He knows better. Those are the plays Quincy has to get out of his game if he wants to become the linebacker that we all think he can be.”
The Jets scored a 24-21 win.
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