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LONDON — Halapoulivaati Vaitai has 20 letters in his name, but most of the Eagles fan base only uses one of them — V. Or, Big V.
For the Eagles, he needs to be even bigger than his name, and that has nothing to do with his 6-foot-6, 320-pound frame.
The Eagles beat the Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, but they suffered a big loss when Lane Johnson fell to the turf and was later carted off the field with a knee injury. He could miss a month with an MCL sprain, which only adds onto an ankle injury he’d been battling the last few weeks.
Johnson is one of the Eagles’ most valuable players. They tend to win when he plays, and lose when he doesn’t.
For a team on the cusp of playoff contention, now Vaitai needs to come up big.
“I’ll be ready,” Vaitai said in the locker room after Sunday’s win.
This is far from the first time the Eagles have been forced to turned to Vaitai in a pinch.
Eagles beat Jaguars: 7 observations
He started six games in place of Johnson when he was suspended during the 2016 season, Vaitai’s rookie year.
He started 10 games last year — plus three in the playoffs — when Jason Peters suffered a Torn ACL, and played most of Week 2 this season against the Buccaneers when Peters hurt his quad.
Historically, Vaitai-as-starter has been bumpy.
Call him Big Rollercoaster.
In 2016, he allowed at least three pressures in four of six starts at right tackle, with four sacks allowed, per Pro Football Focus.
Last year, he was inconsistent to say the least, but mostly held his own at one of the most important positions on the team, replacing a future Hall-of-Famer in Peters.
Vaitai allowed less than three pressures in 7 of 12 starts at left tackle, including four straight games from Week 16 through the NFC Championship Game. He also allowed five or more pressures on four occasions, including in the Super Bowl.
“I gained a lot of experience last year,” Vaitai said, “so I know how the game speed is. So I’m not worried about it. Whatever Stout says, I’m going with it.”
Then training camp and the preseason started this season, and Vaitai reverted back to old form. He was bad in place of a resting Peters, and he’s admitted as much.
When he stepped in for Peters in Week 2, he promptly allowed a sack.
He allowed a sack quickly against the Jaguars this week, too.
All told, he’s been OK otherwise, allowing just six pressures in 122 snaps this season, per PFF.
Still, even with 16 NFL starts to his name, Vaitai remains a work in progress. Yet, the Eagles have maintained confidence in Vaitai’s ability to play across the board, in the coaching staff and on the offensive line.
All told, the Eagles still win more than they lose with him in the lineup — they’re 10-6 in his 16 starts.
He has the stamp of approval from both Peters and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, the two most powerful voices at that position.
“We’re fortunate to have a guy like V,” Stoutland said recently.
Peters concurred.
“He’s getting better,” Peters said at Wembley. “The more he plays, the better he’s gonna get. The more comfortable he gets, the better he’s gonna be in a game situation. All I see from that guy is he works hard, knows what he’s doing and he’s getting better every week.”
With Vaitai likely moving to the starting lineup, the Eagles’ depth chart looks … problematic. Vaitai’s best value comes as a swing tackle, capable of subbing in at left or right tackle, as needed. It’s what he did against the Jaguars.
If Johnson is hurt, at tackle that leaves the Eagles with a banged up, 36-year-old Peters on the left, Vaitai on the right and two unproven rookies in Jordan Mailata and Matt Pryor, both of whom have been mostly inactive on game day this season. Chance Warmack is the only other reserve offensive lineman, and he’s exclusively a guard.
That makes Vaitai’s presence all the more important.
“When they need me, when the coaches need you to do something, that’s your job to follow the gameplan,” Vaitai said. “When they told me to go to left tackle (against the Jaguars), I said ‘ok, cool.’ When they said go to right tackle, I said ‘ok, cool.’ People make it hard because they overthink a lot of things but really … you don’t overdo it.”
Now, Vaitai will have the Eagles’ Week 9 bye, plus practices in Week 10, to prepare to be the starter at right tackle. That’s his job.
Big Deal.
Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ZackBlatt. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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