Eagles lost a franchise legend. Their response? ‘S--t happened’

PHILADELPHIA — The business side of the NFL can be rough. Players and coaches build strong relationships, and when a player or coach leaves a team, it can cause some members of the organization to feel hurt.

The coach responsible for Mailata’s development as both a football player and a person won’t be there anymore.

Now, Mailata has to move forward with a new coach this season and for the rest of his career.

“It’s one of those things where I’m at that point in my career, where this is the business,” Mailata said Tuesday. “We lost A.J. (Brown), lost Stout. This is how the business is. And I’ve got to find a way to find my feet again. I’ve got to find a way to lead this locker room again, regardless of whatever happens.

“Those are the two things that I have to face now. S–t happened.”

Mailata, a team captain, has spent this offseason thinking, “How do I get over this? How do I overcome this adversity?”

Mailata knows things are about to change in Philadelphia, and he must embrace them. The Eagles have a new offensive scheme, a new group of assistant coaches, and new players on offense. He has been impressed with new offensive line coach Chris Kuper, who replaced Stoutland this offseason.

“Chris is awesome,” Mailata said. “Chris has been a great addition to the team so far, bringing on new techniques. He’s very familiar with this new scheme that we have. And so his experience and knowledge within the scheme, it’s really translating from the classroom to the field right now. And we’re learning a bunch of stuff.”

Mailata said, “it’s a very humbling experience” when learning a new scheme, but he has also enjoyed doing it.

“I think you should always be of that learning mindset,” Mailata said. “You should never think that you know everything. And so it’s been fun and it’s been great.”

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